Lecture by Brandon Clifford, director and co-founder of Matter Design. Clifford, an assistant professor at MIT, is a time-traveler who mines ancient knowledge to develop creative approaches to the world’s most pressing problems.

Best known for bringing megalithic sculptures to life to perform tasks, Brandon’s recent book The Cannibal’s Cookbook demonstrates his dedication to bringing ancient methods to life in contemporary practice with theatrical captivation. His work at Matter Design is focused on re-directing architectural research through spectacle and mysticism by re-posing a series of ancient, but hauntingly relevant questions. For instance, could walking massive statues help us design for transportation and assembly? Is the key to recycling our building materials locked inside the cryptic walls suspected of being built by primordial giants? These ancient ways of thinking compound cultural significance, ceremony, and mythology with technical and methodological procedures that have the potential to resolve our contemporary problems. His speculative built works continue to disrupt common practices and challenge default solutions.

Clifford received his Master of Architecture from Princeton University and his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Georgia Tech. As a designer and researcher, Clifford has received recognition with prizes such as the American Academy in Rome Prize, a TED Fellowship, the SOM Prize, and the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects & Designers. Clifford is dedicated to re-imagining the role of the architect. His speculative work continues to provoke new directions for the digital era.