#390 - From Idea to Execution: Heliomorphism
From Archispeak by Evan Troxel & Cormac Phalen
May 26, 2026 · 1h 12m · Season 13 · Episode 390
About this episode
Sven Shockey joins Evan and Cormac to discuss the design process of Virginia Tech's Academic Building One, focusing on computational design and building-integrated photovoltaics.
Sven Shockey, FAIA joins Evan and Cormac to talk about Virginia Tech Academic Building One — a 300,000-square-foot computer science and computer engineering building on a new campus in Alexandria, Virginia whose faceted, photovoltaic-integrated form was derived through 1,400 computational iterations. They explore what it means to design a building's exterior before the interior program is finalized, how three distinct types of building-integrated photovoltaics get assigned to 17 different facades based on orientation and performance data, and what a sewage wastewater energy exchange system has to do with a tunnel under a parking lot. This episode is especially relevant for design architects and architecture students who want to understand how computational tools actually interact with design judgment — and for anyone who's ever wondered what it looks and feels like to sit inside a building where the facade is doing real work. The shadows move. The light is soft. The algorithm found a non-intuitive answer, and then the real design work began. Episode Links Guest Sven Shockey on LinkedIn Sven Shockey at SmithGroup SmithGroup SmithGroup website SmithGroup on LinkedIn SmithGroup on…
People in this episode
Hosts: Evan Troxel, Cormac Phalen
Guest: Sven Shockey
Topics covered
- computational design
- building-integrated photovoltaics
- architecture education
- design judgment
- sustainable architecture
Keywords
- computational iterations
- faceted design
- photovoltaics
- architecture
- design process
- sustainable design
- Virginia Tech
- SmithGroup
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Virginia Tech, SmithGroup
Books & works: Virginia Tech Academic Building One
Places: Alexandria, Virginia
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