Aaron Brakke

Aaron Paul Brakke is an architect and designer born and educated in the United States. He is Founder and Director of Design at Whiteknee. He studied architecture at Ball State University where he graduated with a post-professional degree in Architecture (MArch II). At this time he was involved in the development of an ACADIA Conference and became interested in researching the reciprocal relationship between the architect and technology. His educational background also includes an intensive study in Regenerative Ecological Design through the Ecosa Institute. This experience provided the opportunity to inhabit Arcosanti and dialogue with the visionary architect Paolo Soleri. He has worked with several avant-garde architecture firms in New York such as; Joseph Giovannini and at Archi–tectonics (Winka Dubbeldam).

He spent a decade in the city of Bogotá, Colombia where he founded Whiteknee and was a Professor of Architecture at the Universidad Piloto de Colombia. At this institution, he founded the Center of Innovation which is currently under construction and will blend digital fabrication machinery with tools for Simulation and Visualization (VR and Augmented Reality). He is now Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. His primary research interest is situated in use of technology in territorial demarcation and construction practices among displaced citizens. He founded and directs the Innovation Lab for Insurgent Architecture and Design which focuses and working with communities to transform the built environment. This work has been published and presented in South America, North America and Europe.