Dr Daniel Prohasky is an architectural engineer and roboticist passionate about translating research towards accelerating the scaled adoption of exciting, resourceful and low-carbon architecture. Dr Sofia Colabella is an architect and Lecturer in Architectural Design at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning of The University of Melbourne, with a PhD in Architectural Technology. Peter Lim is a director of Tensys and working in the field of lightweight structures, complex geometries and space frames for the past 35 years. 

Download an A2 Conference Poster  as well as an A4 Conference Flyer

Dr Daniel Prohasky is an architectural engineer and roboticist passionate about translating research towards accelerating the scaled adoption of exciting, resourceful and low-carbon architecture.

Daniel pursues the multidisciplinary integration of knowledge and systems of design with a focus on the development of novel elegant robotic systems to build exciting cities of the future. Daniel has worked as a research engineer with two of the most innovative engineering firms in the world, Arup and Aurecon. Where he encouraged and implemented new ways of tackling engineering problems using the latest in computational tools and innovative thinking.

Daniel is passionate about building resourceful and elegant architecture. He believes that, as engineers and architects, one of the most important challenges of our time is the need to reduce waste and atmospheric carbon emissions - yesterday. He’ll help you develop the abilities to create, not only environmentally sustainable architecture, but also, beautiful buildings that people love and are excited to dwell within!

He is devoted to invigorating your innovative thinking. Leading by example, he has created Curvecrete, a new advanced manufacturing and architectural engineering practice tackling these challenges. So, you can have the chance to tap in to firsthand experiences with the construction industry and real-world low-carbon construction projects.

He was voted the Victorian Professional Engineer of the Year award in 2023 Engineers Australia Excellence Award.

Dr Sofia Colabella is an architect and Lecturer in Architectural Design at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning of The University of Melbourne, with a PhD in Architectural Technology. Sofia co-founded Gridshell.it, a company specialising in the design and construction of performative timber architecture and acoustic shells, designed through digital tools and full-scale prototypes. She co-founded the Italian-based architecture practice CMMKM Architecture and Design, specialising in residential architecture. Her research interest and expertise relate to design, timber tectonic cultures, digital design & fabrication, and the reuse of reclaimed materials for architectural purposes. As visiting Scientific Partner at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), she provided a novel approach to the feasibility of reuse of discarded high-tech sports equipment for structural purposes. She is a member of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS).

Professor Brendon McNiven leads the Melbourne School of Design (MSD), Architectural Engineering Masters Course. Mark Burry AO is the Founding Director for Swinburne University of Technology’s ‘Smart Cities Research Institute’. Roland Snooks is a Professor at RMIT University, and director of the architectural practice Studio Roland Snooks.

Professor Brendon McNiven leads the Melbourne School of Design (MSD), Architectural Engineering Masters Course.  He has more than three decades of experience in the construction industry and recently joined University of Melbourne to pursue research in the field of architectural engineering.

His industry experience provides him with an in-depth working knowledge of how projects design & deliver. Much of his career was spent working for global design consultant Arup and has included lead roles on projects such as the Millennium Wheel (London), Marina Bay Sands and The Singapore Flyer (Singapore), and the Melbourne Star (Melbourne).

Specialist design skills include architectural buildings, lightweight structures, specialist & moving structures, tall building design, façades, heritage buildings, buildability, and digital design processes (BIM & similar).

Brendon is a chartered engineer, a fellow of Engineers Australia, and a member of the Institution of Structural Engineers in the UK.

Mark Burry AO is the Founding Director for Swinburne University of Technology’s ‘Smart Cities Research Institute’, an appointment he took up in May 2017. His role is to lead the development of a whole-of-university research approach to helping ensure that our future cities anticipate and meet the needs of all – engaged smart citizens for engaging smart cities.

Mark Burry is a practising architect who has published internationally on two main themes: putting theory into practice with regard to procuring ‘challenging’ architecture, and the life, work and theories of the architect Antoni Gaudí. He has been Senior Architect to the Sagrada Família Basilica Foundation since 1979, pioneering distant collaboration with his colleagues based on-site in Barcelona.

In 2001 Mark Burry founded the Spatial Information Architecture Laboratory (SIAL) at RMIT University before establishing the Design Research Institute (DRI) in 2008. He held an ARC funded Federation Fellowship in ‘Complex Architecture and Convergent Design’ 2007-2012. He joined the University of Melbourne in 2014 as Professor of Urban Futures at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning where he helped develop the Faculty’s capacity to consolidate research in urban futures, drawing together and augmenting expertise in urban visualisation, urban analytics, and urban policy.

Roland Snooks is a Professor at RMIT University, and director of the architectural practice Studio Roland Snooks. Roland’s design research explores behavioural processes of formation that draw from the logic of swarm intelligence and multi-agent algorithms. Roland directs the RMIT Architecture | Tectonic Formation Lab that explores the architectural design implications of emerging technologies with a focus on computational design and additive manufacturing.

He has previously taught widely in the US, including at Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, SCI-Arc and the Pratt Institute. Roland received a PhD from RMIT University, focused on behavioral processes of formation that draw from the logic of swarm intelligence, and the operation of multi-agent algorithms. He holds a master in advanced architectural design from Columbia University where he studied on a Fulbright scholarship

Roland's work has been published widely including recent articles in: AD, Domus, L'Arca, World Architecture, and Urban Environment Design. His work has been exhibited internationally at venues in: London, New York, Paris, Melbourne, Moscow, Kiev, San Francisco, Shanghai and Beijing. Roland was nominated for the Chernikhov Prize in 2006 and 2010, and was the Australian Curator for the Beijing Architecture Biennale in 2008 and 2010. Studio Roland Snooks is currently working on projects in the US and Australia.

A number of candid images courtesy of Dr Daniel Phohasky showing Team Dandelions developing their winning team entry into the Inaugural LSAA Student Competition in 2024. 

Using flexible rods as boundary form defining elements for one structure they also developed a ball joint using 3D printing technology.

In addition to producing a 3D Prototype the team had to submit their concepts in an A1 sized poster.

We are pleased that seven teams of students have responded to the Inaugural LSAA Student Awards. Teams are from the Melbourne based organizer institutions as well as overseas teams. 

These teams are:

Team Dandelions - First Prize - Swinburne University, Melbourne
Team Members: Adam Nuske, Harry Tweedale, Antonios Koufidis. Tutor:  Daniel Prohasky.

Team X-Bamboo - Second Prize - RMIT University, Melbourne
Team Members: Kang Liu, Jinbang Liang, Chih-I Lin, Yuzhe Zhu. Tutor:  Nic Bao

Team 404.5 - Third Prize - Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen
Team Members: Changrong Hu, Meichen Shang, Qianxi Kong, Qiaoyang Chen.   Tutors:  Yuqian Liu, Ting Cao.