Neil Leach is a British architect and theorist.MIT Press
retrieved 14 May 2011 He is also a licensed architect, registered to practice in the United Kingdom.

Education

Leach holds a Master of Arts degree and a Diploma of Architecture degree from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

Academic history

He is Professor at

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest uni ...

, the

European Graduate School The European Graduate School (EGS) is a private graduate school that operates in two locations: Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and Valletta, Malta. History It was founded in 1994 in Saas-Fee, Switzerland by the Swiss scientist, artist, and therapist, Pao ...

and

Tongji University Tongji University () is a comprehensive public research university located in Shanghai. Established in 1907 by the German government together with German physicians in Shanghai, Tongji is one of the longest-standing, most selective, and most pr ...

. He has also taught at the

Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest Independent school (United Kingdom), independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in t ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

SCI-Arc Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is a private architecture school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1972, SCI-Arc was initially regarded as both institutionally and artistically avant-garde and more adventurous than t ...

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achieve ...

, Dessau Institute of Architecture,

Royal Danish Academy of Art The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dani ...

, and

Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia ( ca, Institut d'Arquitectura Avançada de Catalunya, IAAC; ) also known as IAAC, is an educational and research centre dedicated to the development of an architecture capable of meeting the wor ...

. He is currently the Director of the

Doctor of Design Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ...

program at

. He is an academician within the

Academy of Europe The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...

, and has also been a

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) is a NASA program for development of far reaching, long term advanced concepts by "creating breakthroughs, radically better or entirely new aerospace concepts". The program operated under the name N ...

Fellow. He is co-founder of DigitalFUTURES.

Academic interests

Leach's initial research interests focused on the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

. His first publication was a translation from the Latin of de re aedificatoria, the fifteenth century treatise on architecture written by Italian humanist,

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. H ...

. The translation was undertaken under the supervision of

Joseph Rykwert Joseph Rykwert Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 1926) is Paul Philippe Cret Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and one of the foremost architectural historians and critics of his generation. He has spent m ...

. Subsequently his interests shifted into the realm of contemporary architectural theory, and he developed a particular interest in

Continental Philosophy Continental philosophy is a term used to describe some philosophers and philosophical traditions that do not fall under the umbrella of analytic philosophy. However, there is no academic consensus on the definition of continental philosophy. Pri ...

and its potential impact on architectural thinking. Leach's position in regards to architectural theory was first set out in the "cultural reader" he edited, ''Rethinking Architecture'' (1997). The book contained a selection of well-known writings about architecture written by thinkers within

, ranging from

Hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate c ...

and

Phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...

Structuralism In sociology, anthropology, archaeology, history, philosophy, and linguistics, structuralism is a general theory of culture and methodology that implies that elements of human culture must be understood by way of their relationship to a broader ...

and

Deconstruction The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essences w ...

, prefaced by Leach's own introductions. Among the authors included were:

Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida; See also . 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was an Algerian-born French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in numerous texts, and which was developed t ...

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...

Jean Baudrillard Jean Baudrillard ( , , ; 27 July 1929 – 6 March 2007) was a French sociologist, philosopher and poet with interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as w ...

and

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish mys ...

. What the selection set out to represent was a rethinking of architectural practice; making it a critical activity, not simply accepting the given

paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm () is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. Etymology ''Paradigm'' comes f ...

, while at the same time placing architecture within the realm of

cultural studies Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices re ...

. He subsequently published a series of edited volumes and monographs based on material from that book. His work then developed in the direction of materialism and computation, inspired in part by the work of

Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze ( , ; 18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volu ...

and

Manuel DeLanda Manuel DeLanda (born 1952) is a Mexican- American writer, artist and philosopher who has lived in New York since 1975. He is a lecturer in architecture at the Princeton University School of Architecture and the University of Pennsylvania School ...

but also by new scientific thinking. This informs his curatorial work and design teaching which engage extensively with scripting and digital fabrication. He is the co-recipient of two

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

grants to explore the potential use of the robotic fabrication technology,

Contour Crafting Contour crafting is a building printing technology being researched by Behrokh Khoshnevis of the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute (in the Viterbi School of Engineering) that uses a computer-controlled crane or ...

, for building structures on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

and

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

. Currently, he is working in the field of architecture and

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

, where he has published two books, ''Architecture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: An Introduction to AI for Architects'' and ''Machine Hallucinations: Architecture and AI'', and has contracts to publish three more. He also engages with the field of

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...

Activities in China

Leach has been involved extensively in China, where he directed the American Academy in China for several years. He was the co-curator (with Xu Weiguo) of the A2 Exhibition of Avant-Garde Architecture at the Architecture Biennial Beijing 2004, the Emerging Talents, Emerging Technologies Exhibition at the Architecture Biennial Beijing 2006, the (Im)material Processes Exhibition at the Architecture Biennial Beijing 2008, and the Machinic Processes Exhibition at the Architecture Biennial Beijing 2010. He was also the co-curator (with Roland Snooks) of the Swarm Intelligence: Architectures of Multi-Agent Systems Exhibition in Shanghai in 2010, and (with Philip Yuan) of the DigitalFUTURES Exhibition in Shanghai in 2011 (with Philip Yuan) of the Interactive Shanghai Exhibition in Shanghai in 2013, and (with Xu Weiguo) of the Design Intelligence: Advanced Computational Research Exhibition in Beijing in 2013, and the Digital Factory: Advanced Computational Research Exhibition in Shanghai in 2015. Since 2011 he has co-curated (with Philip Yuan) the annual DigitalFUTURES exhibitions in Shanghai. He currently holds a Professorship at Tongji University, where he is a PhD supervisor.

Publications

*''On the Art of Building in Ten Books'' with Joseph Rykwert (1988, 1991) *''Rethinking Architecture'' - editor (1997) *''Millennium Culture'' (1999) *''The Anaesthetics of Architecture'' (1999) *''Architecture and Revolution'' - editor (1999) *''Mars Pants'' with Oliver Froome-Lewis et al. (2000) *''Designing for a Digital World'' - editor (2002) *''The Hieroglyphics of Space'' - editor (2002) *''China'' (2004) *''Fast Forward>>, Hot Spots, Brain Cells'' - co-editor with Xu Weiguo (2004) *''Digital Tectonics'' - co-editor with David Turnbull and Chris Williams (2004) *''Emerging Talents, Emerging Technologies: Architects'' - co-editor with Xu Weiguo (2006) *''Emerging Talents, Emerging Technologies: Students'' - co-editor with Xu Weiguo (2006) *''Forget Heidegger'' (2006) *''Camouflage'' (2006) *''(Im)material Processes: Architects'' - co-editor with Xu Weiguo (2008) *''(Im)material Processes: Students'' - co-editor with Xu Weiguo (2008) *''Digital Cities'' - editor (2009) *''Machinic Processes: Architects'' - co-editor with Xu Weiguo (2010) *''Machinic Processes: Students'' - co-editor with Xu Weiguo (2010) *''Swarm Intelligence: Architectures of Multi-Agent Systems'' - co-editor with Roland Snooks (2017) *''Fabricating the Future'' - co-editor with Philip Yuan (2012) *''Scripting the Future'' - co-editor with Philip Yuan (2012) *''Digital Workshop in China'' - co-editor with Philip Yuan (2013) *''Design Intelligence: New Computational Research'' - co-editor with Xu Weiguo (2013) *''Space Architecture: The New Frontier for Design Research'' - editor (2014) *''Robotic Futures'' - co-editor with Philip Yuan and Achim Menges (2015) *''Digital Factory: New Computational Research'' - co-editor with Xu Weiguo (2015) *''Swarm Intelligence: Architectures of Multi-Agent Systems'' - co-editor with Roland Snooks (2017) *''3D Printed Body Architecture'' - co-editor with Behnaz Farahi (2017) *''Computational Design'' - co-editor with Philip Yuan (2017) *''Digital Fabrication'' - co-editor with Achim Menges and Philip Yuan (2017) *''Architectural Intelligence'' - co-editor with Philip Yuan, Neil Leach, Mike Xie, Jiawei Yao (2020) *''Proceedings of the 2020 DigitalFUTURES'' - co-editor with Philip Yuan, Jiawei Yao, Chao Yan, Xiang Wang (2021) *''Proceedings of the 2021 DigitalFUTURES'' - co-editor with Philip Yuan, Jiawei Yao, Chao Yan, Xiang Wang (2021) *''Architecture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: An Introduction to AI for Architects'' (2022) *''Machine Hallucinations: Architecture and AI'' - co-editor with Matias del Campo (2022) His books have been translated into eight different languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Romanian, Portuguese, Korean, Polish, Farsi and Macedonian.

References

External links

Neil Leach
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, Neil British architecture writers 21st-century British architects Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Academics of the University of Bath Academic staff of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts