Jenny Sabin

Cornell College of Architecture, Art, and Planning

Jenny E. Sabin is an architectural designer whose work is at the forefront of a new direction for 21st century architectural practice — one that investigates the intersections of architecture and science and applies insights and theories from biology and mathematics to the design of responsive material structures and ecological spatial interventions for diverse audiences. 

Published March 1, 2023

Biosynthetic Design: Towards Adaptive Architecture

Sabin will present ongoing trans-disciplinary research and design spanning across the fields of cell biology, materials science, physics, fiber science, fashion, mechanical and structural engineering, and architecture. Sabin’s collaborative research, teaching, and design practice focus on the contextual, material, and formal intersections between architecture, science, and emerging technologies.

The material world that this type of research interrogates reveals examples of nonlinear fabrication and self-assembly at the surface, and at a deeper structural level. In parallel, this work offers up novel possibilities that question and redefine architecture within the greater scope of generative design, sustainability, and fabrication.

Wednesday, March 1

6-7:30 p.m. | 403 Hayes

AIA approved continuing education logo.

The School of Architecture and Planning is an AIA CES Approved Provider. This course is AIA CES Registered and approved for 1 Learning Unit (LU).

Jenny Sabin, headshot by Jesse Winter.

Arthur L. and Isabel B. Wiesenberger Professor in Architecture; Chair, Design Tech; Principal, Jenny Sabin Studio.

This talk will elucidate the research methods, prototypes, and architectural projects that Sabin and her collaborators have achieved, which include adaptive building skins, fabric structures and ceramic assemblies, and architectural interventions that ultimately (re)configure their own performance based upon local criteria and human interaction.

Sabin is the Arthur L. and Isabel B. Wiesenberger Professor in Architecture and the inaugural Chair for the new multi-college Department of Design Tech at the Cornell College of Architecture, Art, and Planning where she established a new advanced research degree in Matter Design Computation. She is principal of Jenny Sabin Studio, an experimental architectural design studio based in Ithaca and Director of the Sabin Design Lab at Cornell AAP. Her book, LabStudio: Design Research Between Architecture and Biology, co-authored with Peter Lloyd Jones was published in July 2017. In that same year, Sabin won MoMA & MoMA PS1’s Young Architects Program with her submission, Lumen.