Data and the Built Environment – on demand

In this webinar Dr Christopher Bamborough, from Arch_Manu UNSW, explores how data is reshaping architectural thinking and practice – both as a technical tool and a cultural framework – and the essential data literacy that architects require for future practice. Originally held 12 August 2025.

Data is changing the way architects work today. Architects aren’t just using data as a tool – they’re designing within it. Data influences what architects prioritise while embedding an economic and technical logic into the process affecting how the built environment is conceived, evaluated, and constructed. 

This Arch_Manu session draws from historical analysis and contemporary case studies to show how measurement and abstraction have shifted from tools of representation to frameworks that define architectural value, decision-making, and spatial production. It explores how data’s influence through abstraction and synthesis has reorganised the discipline’s foundational acts of observation, prediction and instruction. It looks beyond technology to investigate how data has become a cultural framework – structuring decisions, framing ethics, and defining the boundaries of design itself. Christopher advocates for a critical data literacy that equips architects to operate within complex information systems while recognising architecture’s evolving cultural role.

This webinar was run in collaboration with Arch_Manu: ARC Centre for Next-Gen Architectural Manufacturing ITTC.

OUR SPEAKER

Dr Christopher Bamborough is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales, working within the ARC Centre for Next-Generation Architectural Manufacturing (Arch_Manu). His research examines the role of data in architectural practice, focusing on its technical, cultural, and material impacts. His PhD thesis argued that while data has long been integral to architecture, its digital form introduces a significant and evolving non-human influence on practice. AI and automation are central to this shift, raising critical questions about authorship and the evolving role of human designers. Chris’s work highlights the moments where architects enter into machine collaboration and explores the practical and material consequences of these interactions. Trained as an architect in the UK and Australia, Chris gained experience working in Architecture and Design for Manufacture (DfM) practices before transitioning into academia, where he has spent over 15 years teaching, lecturing and researching computational design, digital fabrication and construction.

COST

1 formal CPD point.

Learning outcomes – This CPD session provides a framework for thinking about and working with data in architectural practice. It will equip participants with critical skills to understand where engaging with data-driven decision making may result in genuine improvements or may invite bias.

Units of Competency and Performance Criteria – Project Initiation & Conceptual Design – PC 18, PC 28

PBSA Core Area – Design

Links will be provided for recording access and CPD questions. Please complete questions after viewing the webinar in its entirety. Certificates will be provided following online submission of answers to questions. Please keep your receipt, completed questions and certificate for your CPD records.

CONTACT