Professor Báez will present a summary of his research while focusing on an initial project that incorporated the use of a potter’s wheel and served as the catalyst for the concepts and themes that have inspired the overall direction of his work.

Manuel A. Báez is an Associate Professor at Carleton University, Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism, where he is also the Coordinator of Crossings Inerdisciplinary Research and the Director of the Carleton De-Formation Research Unit. Previously, he worked and practiced in New York City while teaching at the Architecture Schools at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and the Rhode Island School of Design. His work as an architect, artist and researcher draws inspiration from the generative potential of the forms, structures and integrative systems generated by elemental processes that exist throughout the natural environment. His educational concerns, interests and objectives are focused on the development of teaching methods and procedures derived from the research. Professor Báez has extensively exhibited and lectured on his research in various international conferences and institutions. The research has been funded by such agencies and institutions as the Canada Council for the Arts, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council,  the New York Foundation for the Arts, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, Cranbrook Academy of Art and Carleton University. As a collaborative design with Jean Le Mée, professor emeritus and former Mechanical Engineering Department Chairman at The Cooper Union,     The Millennium Sphere project was a Finalist (Honorable Mention) in the New York Times Magazine Time Capsule Competition and subsequent exhibition at The Museum of Natural History in New York City.  In 2005, Professor Báez was honoured with a Research Achievement Award from Carleton University and in 2008, with a Carleton Foundry Program Innovation Grant. These achievements have led to an invitation to be a guest speaker at a TEDxCareltonU event on the theme of Ideas Driving Innovation.  He received his B. Arch. Degree from The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union and his M. Arch. Degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He is a licensed architect in New York State.