Technology has always been pivotal in shaping the society. Advances in information technologies and material sciences in the course of the twenty-first century have irreversibly altered not only everyday life of individuals, so that the structural tenets of societies, but also the design, construction and management methods in architectural, engineering and urban practices. Beyond these alterations, recent innovations in emergent technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and/or Machine Learning have started to define unprecedented needs and requirements for the built environments. Moreover, environmental problems like pollution, source limitations, overcrowded cities, climate change, extreme weather conditions and the social crises that they cause on the doorstep require each and every profession to rethink its role in the ever changing conditions of today’s dynamic political and economic agenda, make urgent decisions to adjust itself and take immediate actions. In order to give insights into the role of technology and innovation in the practice and critical theory of contemporary architecture, cutting edge technological developments and innovations have the potential of being both remedy and poison for these environmental, economic and social upheavals.

In order to give insights into the role of technology and innovation in the practice and critical theory of contemporary architecture, Yaşar University Department of Architecture initiates the International Symposium of Architecture, Technology and Innovation (ATI), which is planned to be organized annually from this very first one onwards. The symposium aims to provide scholars a transdisciplinary platform where theoretical, technical and/or practice-based state-of-the-art research findings revolving around a yearly theme in the larger framework of ATI can be discussed reciprocally. 

Selected papers will be published in the International Journal of “Digital Innovation in the Built Environment” as a special issue.

This year’s symposium entitled “Smart Buildings, Smart Cities” will be held on 28-30 April 2020 in Yaşar University, Izmir, Turkey. Smart cities today, are considered as ecosystems of various networks designed to make the urban environment more intelligent; and smart buildings are one of the most indispensable components of this ecosystem. By bringing together scholars from diverse disciplines all those who focus on the effects of unfolding intelligent systems of built environment, the symposium is aimed to initiate a scholarly informed basis for the discussion of the opportunities, requirements and sustainability of this ecosystem with its present and potential future forms as well as its undercurrents.

• Transformable / Adaptive Structures
• Computational Design and Fabrication
• Sustainability and Structural Design
• Responsive Façades
• BIM Technologies
• Deployable and Origami-Based Structures
• Smart and Bio-based Materials
• Digital Humanities
• Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) Technologies
• Energy Efficient Design
• Smart Energy Grid
• Smart transportation and parking
• IoT applications
• AI and Machine Learning
• GIS, Smart Communities and Urban Mobility
• Big Data and Data analytics