Ercument Gorgul

Ercument Gorgul has worked as a Senior Designer for SOM in USA, where he was a key member of the design team on numerous large-scale projects. Among his studies at the MIT Media Lab, Ercument Gorgul held positions as research associate and teaching assistant at Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) and Istanbul Technical University (ITU). Ercu was the director of 2009 summer program in architecture at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and director of the 2013 summer workshop program in architecture at the Shih Chien University in Taipei and 2014 Shanghai Global Summer School for IaaC. Among his numerous teaching appointments at Tsinghua University in Beijing, HKU's Shanghai campus and London-based Architectural Association's (AA) Global Schools in China, Ercu has his own Shanghai-based multi-disciplinary design consultancy. His collaborative and research-oriented work has been exhibited extensively including Hong Kong- Shenzhen Bi-city Biennial and at the Venice Biennial.

Besides being the first and only non-Chinese full-time faculty at Tongji University's College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP) in Shanghai, Ercu has been an invited guest critic at Harvard and Catholic Universities in US and at Shanghai University in China. Ercu instructs courses and studio focused on experimental teaching methods, on BIM, on generative design methodology as well as around alternative means of representation using digital media. His academic interests lie on teaching creativity by developing different methods and mechanisms of abstraction. Ercu is also interested in design and development of experimental curricula on parametrics; digital crafting; performative and lenient design thinking in architecture, with a special focus on individual development of next generation college and pre-college level students interested in design field, regardless their previous background.

Ercument Gorgul holds a High Honors Bachelor degree from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul, a Masters from Istanbul Technical University, and a Masters from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He is currently pursuing a third Master degree on Art History and a PhD on Design Theory. Ercu is a registered architect in Turkey and is an Associate AIA and LEED AP in the US.