On December 15, 2025, AIANY Emerging New York Architects (ENYA) was honored to collaborate with KPF to host the “Future Now 2025: Computational Design Insights for Emerging Architects,” a conversation with Neil Katz, FAIA, Associate Principal at SOM, and Joe Brennan, AIA, Associate Principal at KPF.

The program began with presentations about their passion for computational design, retrospection on digital practice, and the future of design technology, balancing the topics of practice and pedagogy, favorite works, and their career path of becoming design tech specialists.

Neil Katz is an architect with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill who has pioneered the adoption of computational design in contemporary practice and has served as an ambassador for its application in architecture through the built environment, interdisciplinary collaborations, and teaching. Katz also teaches computational design at the City College of New York. He has used computational design as a methodology in developing architectural forms and as a way of analyzing and designing in response to many project goals, including environmental and sustainability goals. Katz approaches computational design, aspects of which include algorithmic and parametric design as well as BIM, as both a way of thinking about design and of using and developing tools for design.

Joe Brennan is an architect, educator, and computational design leader based in New York City. He serves as Senior Computational Designer and Associate Principal at KPF, where he leads the firm’s Computation and Digital Fabrication efforts in New York. His work focuses on integrating advanced digital workflows—including parametric modeling, BIM, and fabrication technologies—into the design and delivery of complex architectural and urban projects. Brennan is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia GSAPP, where he teaches Rethinking BIM and collaborates with MIT’s Center for Real Estate on workshops exploring the intersection of urban design, sustainability, and financial performance. He has presented at Autodesk University, NVIDIA GTC, ULI, Advancing Computational Building Design, and other industry forums.

The panel discussion and Q&A session shared their insights into how they decided to focus on computation design in their early careers, their day to day workflow, the challenge and opportunity of this industry, how computation adds value, and thoughts on Artificial Intelligence.

It was an amazing evening, and a great mixer of computational designers, thinkers and doers in a full room.

Thank you to KPF for their kind sponsorship and hosting and Alexis Cedeno‘s logistic support.

Special thanks to Karen Rose Cover, Associate Director of Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation Career Services, for promoting the event to the GSAPP community.

This event was organized and moderated by Hao-Yeh Lu, Co-Chair of AIANY Emerging New York Architects, with photography by Chia-Han Lin, and reception by Yi-An Yang and Darwin D.