flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Steven L. Pliam joins LEO A DALY as Design Technology Leader

Architects

Steven L. Pliam joins LEO A DALY as Design Technology Leader

Pliam will oversee the deployment and use of technologies such as computational design, parametric design, digital practice, reality capture, visualization, virtual/augmented reality, GIS and AI/Machine Learning.


By Leo A Daly | February 2, 2022
Leo A Daly logo
Images courtesy Leo A Daly

 LEO A DALY has appointed Steven L. Pliam as Design Technology Leader. He is based in the Minneapolis design studio.

The Design Technology Leader has firm-wide influence – responsible for setting strategy, developing and leading the firm’s Design Technology team. Pliam will oversee the deployment and use of technologies such as computational design, parametric design, digital practice, reality capture, visualization, virtual/augmented reality, GIS and AI/Machine Learning.

He will report to Chief Information Officer Stephen Held and be embedded with Global Design Principals. He will also work closely with Global Practice Leaders, Technical Forum Leaders, Digital Practice, Information Technology and Company Leadership to develop, align, and deliver on LEO A DALY strategies through day-to-day initiatives.

“Throughout our 100+ year history, LEO A DALY’s legacy has been rooted in technological and design innovation. Today, we’re reinventing what that looks like. By marrying design and technology in this new, national position, and with visionary computational designer Steven Pliam in that role, we are investing in an evolution in design process and delivery that will place us at the front edge of the AEC industry,” said Steven Lichtenberger, AIA.

Steven L Pliam

Pliam’s career of cutting-edge design

Pliam has been a trailblazer in computational design throughout his 25-year career. He got his start in 1995 at Frank O. Gehry & Associates, where he pioneered computational approaches to help realize buildable designs for some of the world’s most inventive buildings. While there, he worked intensely on the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California, and the Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington, and helped establish Gehry’s Department of Computational Design Research.

As his career progressed, Pliam continued to build a reputation for revolutionary design technology. His custom software applications for architectural fabrication and the automation of design-to-material construction processes have enabled some of the world’s most challenging building projects. From 2005 to 2007, he worked as a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab, where his work involved human-machine interfaces, animatronics, innovative form-finding methods, and new digital design systems for architectural fabrication, visualization, and design. He also directed BIM and visualization studios for the design firm KDG in India, where he pioneered new methods of design visualization.

Pliam has a Master of Science in Media Arts & Sciences degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Master of Architecture degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, and a Certificate of Special Studies from the Goethe Institute. He has teaching experience at MIT, the University of Minnesota and Dunwoody College of Technology in Minneapolis. His research and projects have been published in Architectural RecordPlan77FormElementaArchinect and Future Arquitecturas.

Tags

Related Stories

Architects | May 10, 2015

Harness the connection between managing risk and increasing profitability, Part 1

AE firms need to protect themselves against vague contractual and procedural situations during all phases of the project in order to minimize their liability and exposure to risk, writes AEC industry consultant Steve Whitehorn.

Building Team | May 8, 2015

Construction industry adds 45,000 jobs in April

The construction industry saw an increase in jobs during the month of April after losing approximately 9,000 positions in March.

Building Team | May 8, 2015

Surety bond forms specifically for design-build projects now available

The documents are the first of their kind to be coauthored by designers and builders.

High-rise Construction | May 6, 2015

Parks in the sky? Subterranean bike paths? Meet the livable city, designed in 3D

Today’s great cities must be resilient—and open—to many things, including the influx of humanity, writes Gensler co-CEO Andy Cohen. 

Architects | May 5, 2015

How to build 'smart' teams

In today's complex world, there are no simple answers—solutions to our most pressing problems aren't offered in 140 characters. Instead, it takes teams of people to rise to a challenge, resolve issues, and execute on strategy, writes Paladino's Julie Honeywell.

Multifamily Housing | May 1, 2015

Trade groups extend campaign to promote apartment living

The groups claim that there are more than 37 million Americans—12% of the population—living in just under 20 million apartment units nationwide. Apartments and their residents contribute $1.3 trillion annually to the economy.

Contractors | May 1, 2015

Nonresidential fixed investments fall in latest Construction Economic Update

This is the first time that nonresidential fixed investment declined since the first quarter of 2011, ABC reported. Nonresidential fixed investment had been rising by more than 4% on an annualized basis during five of the previous six quarters.

Architects | Apr 30, 2015

Safdie Architects accepting applications for 2015 Research Fellowship

The program, which features a theme of “dense urbanism,” encourages participants to tackle the challenges associated with contemporary urban landscapes using new tools and solutions to create a better functioning and humane city.

Museums | Apr 27, 2015

Finalists’ designs for Guggenheim Helsinki competition released

A custom-developed App engages an international public in the selection process.

Wood | Apr 26, 2015

Building wood towers: How high is up for timber structures?

The recent push for larger and taller wood structures may seem like an architectural fad. But Building Teams around the world are starting to use more large-scale structural wood systems. 

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Student Housing

The University of Michigan addresses a decades-long student housing shortage with a new housing-dining facility

The University of Michigan has faced a decades-long shortage of on-campus student housing. In a couple of years, the situation should significantly improve with the addition of a new residential community on Central Campus in Ann Arbor, Mich. The University of Michigan has engaged American Campus Communities in a public-private partnership to lead the development of the environmentally sustainable living-learning student community.



Adaptive Reuse

Empty mall to be converted to UCLA Research Park

UCLA recently acquired a former mall that it will convert into the UCLA Research Park that will house the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA and the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, as well as programs across other disciplines. The 700,000-sf property, formerly the Westside Pavilion shopping mall, is two miles from the university’s main Westwood campus. Google, which previously leased part of the property, helped enable and support UCLA’s acquisition.


Geothermal Technology

Rochester, Minn., plans extensive geothermal network

The city of Rochester, Minn., home of the famed Mayo Clinic, is going big on geothermal networks. The city is constructing Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) that consist of ambient pipe loops connecting multiple buildings and delivering thermal heating and cooling energy via water-source heat pumps.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021