Sean Hanna is Professor of Design Computing at the Bartlett School of Architecture, and a member of the UCL Space Syntax Laboratory, recognised as one of the UK’s highest performing research groups in the field of architecture and the built environment in consecutive UK Research Assessment Exercises. Prior to academia, his background is in architecture and design practice, in which his development and application of design algorithms includes work with architects Foster + Partners and sculptor Antony Gormley.
Sean’s research is primarily in developing computational methods for dealing with complexity in the built environment, including the comparative modelling of space and its perception by machine, and the use of machine learning and optimisation techniques for the design and fabrication of structures.
Recent research projects include: Innochain (www.innochain.net) a collaboration between six universities and fifteen industry partners, to examine how advances in digital design tools will enable sustainable, informed and materially smart design solutions; and ENFOLDing (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/casa/enfolding), a collaboration between the Bartlett, CEGE, Mathematics, Security and Crime Science, Political Science and Geography, to model the global dynamics of complex systems of trade, migration, conflict and aid.
He has over 100 academic publications addressing the fields of spatial modelling, machine intelligence, collaborative creativity, among others, and his work has been featured in the non-academic press, including the Architects’ Journal and The Economist. He has served as chair or committee member for numerous conferences or symposia in his field and on the editorial boards of AI EDAM Journal, the Journal of Engineering Design, and Design Science Journal.