CAAD Futures 2027
Now
Short papers (4–6 pages) are included in the proceedings. Deadline: November 30, 2026 (AoE)
Submit Short PaperNow
Full paper submission deadline: September 15, 2026 (AoE) September 30, 2026 (AoE) Extended
Full paper submission deadline: September 15, 2026 (AoE) September 30, 2026 (AoE) October 16, 2026 (AoE) Final Extension
New · Official Honour
Recognizing outstanding full papers by graduate students and postdoctoral researchers — with complimentary registration and travel support for Calgary.
About
CAAD Futures is an international biennial conference series that originated in the field of Computer Aided Architectural Design. Over four decades, it has evolved into a leading global platform for computational design research — bringing together scholars, practitioners, and students from around the world.
The Foundation was established under Dutch law in 1985 by Tom Maver, Rik Schijf, and Harry Wagter, with the purpose of advancing Computer Aided Architectural Design in the service of the built environment. Initial capital was provided by the Housing Ministry of the Netherlands Government.
Many decades later, the Foundation continues to play a major global role in advancing the field and documenting progress in research through its biennial conference, working in collaboration with regionally focused groups established over the years to support a richly diverse research community.
The mission of the CAAD Futures Foundation is to promote research interactions and collaborations — including PhD students and their supervisors; to provide a platform for communication among researchers in the field of CAAD; and to play an active role in disseminating progress to the scientific architectural community and practice.
Theme
The rapid development of artificial intelligence has brought renewed attention to the question of design agency. As AI systems become actively embedded in computational design workflows, they prompt a re-examination of who — or what — acts, decides, and bears responsibility within design processes.
Rather than framing AI as a singular innovation, CAAD Futures 2027 approaches it as a catalyst that brings renewed attention to how agency is configured, negotiated, and distributed across designers, computational systems, and design cultures.
Situated in Calgary, the conference engages questions of design agency within a regional context shaped by urban transformation, environmental conditions, and evolving technological infrastructures.
Key deadlines and milestones for CAAD Futures 2027. All dates are subject to refinement in consultation with the CAAD Futures Board.
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Full Paper Submission | Papers |
| September 21, 2026 | Emerging Research Call Opens | Short Paper |
| November 30, 2026 (AoE) | Emerging Research Paper Deadline | Short Paper |
| October 2026 – January 2027 Mid October 2026 – January 2027 | Review Period | Papers |
| Early January 2027 | Reviews Released | Papers |
| Late January 2027 | Final Acceptance | Papers |
| Late January 2027 | Emerging Scholar Award Notification | Award |
| Mid March 2027 | Camera-Ready Submission | Papers |
| July 1–2, 2027 | Online Emerging Research Forum | Short Paper |
| July 15, 2026 | Workshop Call Opens | Workshops |
| December 15, 2026 | Workshop Proposal Deadline | Workshops |
| December 15, 2026 – February 1, 2027 | Workshop Review Period | Workshops |
| February 1, 2027 | Workshop Acceptance | Workshops |
| Mid March – Late April 2027 | Early-Bird Registration | Registration |
| May 2027 | Regular Registration | Registration |
| June 29 – July 3, 2027 | Conference | Calgary |
Venue
The School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Calgary. A purpose-adapted urban campus in the core of downtown Calgary — 801 7th Ave SW. Calgary is the gateway to the Canadian Rocky Mountains, with Banff National Park in close proximity, offering one of the most distinctive conference settings in the world.
SAPL Downtown
Calgary
Moraine Lake
Banff Gondola
The University of Calgary, located in the heart of Southern Alberta, both acknowledges and pays tribute to the traditional territories of the peoples of Treaty 7, which include the Blackfoot Confederacy (comprised of the Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai First Nations), the Tsuut'ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda (including Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Goodstoney First Nations). The city of Calgary is also home to the Métis Nation within Alberta (including Nose Hill Métis District 5 and Elbow Métis District 6).
Two days of intensive workshops followed by three days of paper presentations, keynotes, and panels. Detailed sessions will be announced.
Three keynotes follow design agency from structure, across the field that gave computational design its name, and into wood that is already of this place.
1 July · 09:30–10:30
Associate Professor, MIT
Caitlin Mueller works where architecture and structural engineering share one design space. At MIT, Digital Structures treats computation as a collaborator in shaping buildings and bridges, so that intent and performance are decided together. She opens the conference on agency as it acts in structure.
2 July · 17:30–18:30
Professor Emeritus, Carnegie Mellon
In 1989 Ramesh Krishnamurti coined “computational design” for the new program at Carnegie Mellon: design, he wrote, is computational in nature. He tells that history in Technology | Architecture + Design. His keynote opens the wider landscape, how agency has been formalized and redistributed across the field.
3 July · 13:00–14:00
Associate Professor, UBC
AnnaLisa Meyboom brings fabrication to the material. At UBC she works in wood, through robotic construction and the infrastructures new technologies ask of cities. The closing keynote is situated here: agency at the scale of a material this place already builds with.
CAAD Futures 2027 is organized by a multidisciplinary team based within the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Calgary.
Jinmo Rhee
Organizing Chair
Design and Data Science
Sneha Jain
Scientific Chair
Building Science
Isabel Ochoa Quintero
Workshop Chair
Architecture
Alicia Nahmad Vazquez
Industry / Practice Chair
Architecture
Dan Hapton
Outreach Chair
Architecture
Guy Gardner
Facilities Chair
Digital Fabrication
Matthew Parker
Local Event Chair
Architecture
Jason S. Johnson
Administrative Support
Assoc. Dean, Architecture
Joshua Taron
Institutional Support
Assoc. Dean, Research
CAAD Futures 2027 is supported by the following organizations. Sponsorship opportunities are available — please contact us for details.
Institutional
