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.
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 Record, Plan77, Form, Elementa, Archinect and Future Arquitecturas.
Related Stories
| Nov 15, 2010
Gilbane to acquire W.G. Mills, Inc.
Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Company announced plans to acquire W.G. Mills, Inc., a construction management firm with operations based in Florida. The acquisition will dramatically strengthen Gilbane’s position in Florida’s growing market and complement its already established presence in the southeast.
| Nov 11, 2010
Saint-Gobain to make $80 million investment in SAGE Electrochromics
Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest glass and construction material manufacturers, is making a strategic equity investment in SAGE Electrochromics to make electronically tintable “dynamic glass” an affordable, mass-market product, ushering in a new era of energy-saving buildings.
| Nov 11, 2010
Saint-Gobain to make $80 million investment in SAGE Electrochromics
Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest glass and construction material manufacturers, is making a strategic equity investment in SAGE Electrochromics to make electronically tintable “dynamic glass” an affordable, mass-market product, ushering in a new era of energy-saving buildings.
| Nov 11, 2010
USGBC certifies more than 1 billion square feet of commercial space
This month, the total footprint of commercial projects certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Rating System surpassed one billion square feet. Another six billion square feet of projects are registered and currently working toward LEED certification around the world. Since 2000, more than 36,000 commercial projects and 38,000 single-family homes have participated in LEED.
| Nov 10, 2010
$700 million plan to restore the National Mall
The National Mall—known as America’s front yard—is being targeted for a massive rehab and restoration that could cost as much as $700 million (it’s estimated that the Mall has $400 million in deferred maintenance alone). A few of the proposed projects: refurbishing the Grant Memorial, replacing the Capitol Reflecting Pool with a smaller pool or fountain, reconstructing the Constitution Gardens lake and constructing a multipurpose visitor center, and replacing the Sylvan Theater near the Washington Monument with a new multipurpose facility.
| Nov 9, 2010
Just how green is that college campus?
The College Sustainability Report Card 2011 evaluated colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada with the 300 largest endowments—plus 22 others that asked to be included in the GreenReportCard.org study—on nine categories, including climate change, energy use, green building, and investment priorities. More than half (56%) earned a B or better, but 6% got a D. Can you guess which is the greenest of these: UC San Diego, Dickinson College, University of Calgary, and Dartmouth? Hint: The Red Devil has turned green.
| Nov 9, 2010
12 incredible objects being made with 3D printers today
BD+C has reported on how 3D printers are attracting the attention of AEC firms. Now you can see how other creative types are utilizing this fascinating printing technology. Among the printed items: King Tut’s remains, designer shoes, and the world’s smallest Rubik’s Cube.
| Nov 9, 2010
U.S. Army steps up requirements for greening building
Cool roofs, solar water heating, and advanced metering are among energy-efficiency elements that will have to be used in new permanent Army buildings in the U.S. and abroad starting in FY 2013. Designs for new construction and major renovations will incorporate sustainable design and development principles contained in ASHRAE 189.1.
