Talk Series 31

Informed Design in Free-Form Façade/Structure Systems: An Intelligent Workflow for DfMA, Using AI-Agents

Speaker:

Mahdi Fard, Founder and R&D Lead at Ardaena.com and Affiliated PhD researcher at Arch_Manu

Summary:

In the era of Industry 5.0, data is emerging as the core driver of innovation in the built environment. However, the AEC sector still struggles with fragmented information, limiting collaboration across design, engineering, and fabrication. To address this, building elements can be considered as parts of a structured data tree, enriched with semantic details that support Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA), especially in complex free-form façades and structures. This talk introduces AI agents as intelligent assistants that interpret data, connect disciplines, and enable informed, data-driven workflows on top of current tools that help architects and engineers make more coordinated, innovative, and sustainable design decisions.

This talk was delivered online on 14 October 2025. Talk duration is 55 minutes.

Speaker Bio:

Mahdi Fard, an affiliated PhD researcher at Arch_Manu by day & the Founder and R&D Lead at Ardaena.com by night, exemplifies the interconnection of academic explorations with industrial practice in computational design. With experience in integrating design and engineering via DATA, his work focuses on developing intelligent, automated workflows that address industry challenges using AI. His mindset looks for setting a new paradigm for intelligence in AEC which he calls Functional Paradigms. Mahdi’s leadership skills, combined with innovative solutions he has applied in design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA) of Free-Form Structures/Façade Systems, highlight his commitment to train hybrid characters

CPD Details:

This talk is offered as a formal CPD activity for architects, mapped to performance criteria PC28, and PC39 in the Australian 2021 National Standard of Competencies for Architects.

A copy of the CPD questions can be accessed here. If you take notes in digital format during the video, you will be able to copy/paste your answers into the questionnaire form at the end. 

Upon completion of the video, a link to the CPD questionnaire will be unlocked. Submit your answers via that link to earn 1 formal CPD point and receive your certificate for record-keeping purposes. Note: The questionnaire link will only load if the video is viewed from this webpage. If you navigate to YouTube to view the video, you will not be able to access it.