This year’s conference was held on 4 June, in an online format, and was chaired by the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture lecturer, Alberto T. Estévez. Around 50 researchers from around the world took part in the event, which was followed live by nearly 700 people. 

The conference dealt with, among other topics, bio-learning and machine-learning in architecture, parametric and algorithmic design, big data, new methods of biodigital creation and production and the latest developments in the field of smart cities. Each group of topics was addressed by internationally-renowned guest speakers, including José Pedro Sousa, lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto; Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto, founders of the London-based architectural and urban development studio EcoLogicStudio and lecturers at Bartlett and Innsbruck; Alessio Erioli, researcher at the University of Bologna; Aref Maksoud, researcher at the University of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates); Gonçalo Castro Henríques, researcher at the Federal University of Rio Janeiro and Pablo Lorenzo-Eiroa, lecturer at the New York Institute of Technology. 

Lecturer Alberto T. Estévez noted, “This 4th three-yearly conference coincides with marking of the 20-year anniversary of the foundation of the Genetic Architectures Research Group & Office and the Master in Biodigital Architecture. These times, even under the pressure of the current pandemic, have proved to be those of greatest scientific solidity and output of our research group. We must thank those who have put their talent and efforts, loyally and sincerely, at the service of the objectives that have been achieved. Some of them have already been published and others are present at this conference and in its book.” 

As was done for the previous conferences, the work for the conference will be compiled in a book that will be published online over the next few months.