Farzin Lotfi-Jam

Farzin Lotfi-Jam is an architect whose work explores the politics of technology and cities. He is an assistant professor in architecture at Cornell University where he directs the Realtime Urbanism lab. The lab uses and invents new spatial media and technologies to visualize and simulate how algorithms, models, and notions of “real time” govern urban life. He is also director of Farzin Farzin, an interdisciplinary design studio working across architecture, urbanism, computation and media. From modeling the control matrices of smart cities to spatializing the cultural logics of social media, his individual and collaborative projects are research-based and multimediatic. Lotfi-Jam’s work has been collected by The Centre Pompidou and the Sharjah Art Foundation, and he is recipient of the 2022 Architecture League of New York League Prize, as well as being an inaugural Open Call Artist at The Shed. His co-authored book Modern Management Methods: Architecture, Historical Value, and the Electromagnetic Image was published by Columbia University Press.

Farzin Lotfi-Jam and Mark Wasiuta collaborate on “Control Syntax,” a series of research projects and exhibitions that map the historical and contemporary intersections of computers and cities. Their shared work has been exhibited at MAXXI, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Storefront for Art and Architecture, the Istanbul Design Biennial, the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, and the Luma Foundation, among other venues. Their collaborative projects have been supported by grants from the Onassis Foundation and the Graham Foundation, and they are co-recipients of the 2020 M+ Museum/Design Trust Research Fellowship.