Antoine Picon teaches courses in the history and theory of architecture and technology at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Trained as an engineer, architect, and historian, he researches architectural and urban technologies from the eighteenth century to the present. Among his recent books are Digital Culture in Architecture: An Introduction for the Design Profession (2010), Ornament: The Politics of Architecture and Subjectivity (2013), Smart Cities: Théorie et Critique d’un Idéal Autoréalisateur (2013), and Smart Cities: A Spatialised Intelligence (2015).

Picon’s plans at the Academy “are to continue working on a book on the history of construction that I have been preparing for many years. I also intend to start a project on the technological imaginaries of the sustainable city. That said, I will mainly seek inspiration through contact with people at the Academy and, of course, the city.” Picon delivered a keynote address, “The American Academy in Rome and the Beaux Arts Tradition,” at a November 11 conference on AAR’s history.