Alexandros Haridis (Αλέξανδρος Χαρίδης) is a Greek architect and computer scientist. He currently teaches and conducts research in the area of design computation at Harvard University (2023–), where his primary affiliation is with the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (Computer Science area), joint with the Graduate School of Design. He holds a PhD Architecture: Design and Computation (2022), Master of Science in Design Computation and Master of Science in Computer Science (2017), all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received his professional Diploma (M.Arch.) of Architect-Engineer (2014) from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece.
Trained in architecture and computer science, his research addresses the contemporary challenge of integrating architecture into the broader transdisciplinary quest for computational models of
human intelligence. Ongoing research examines the transformative impact of design-centered issues, such as spatial reasoning, aesthetic value judgement, and creative imagination, on modern computing and AI. His scholarly research also aims to establish previously unknown connections between the work of mathematicians, computer scientists, architects, and artists primarily in the United States and Europe, who throughout the 20th century sought to advance computational and mathematical approaches to creation and evaluation of art or design objects leading to today’s “creative” AI systems.
Published work appears in the peer-reviewed journals Environment and Planning B, Computers & Graphics, Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, and in the Design Computing and Cognition conference series, among other venues. Haridis has been supported by a number of fellowships and research grants from the MIT School of Architecture + Planning and the MIT Presidential Fellows Program, the Harvard Data Science Initiative, Biennial of Young Artists, and Onassis and A.G. Leventis Foundations, among others.
At MIT he was a member of the Computation Group in the MIT Department of Architecture, the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL), and the MIT Digital Structures Group.
His professional and creative work is characterized by a diversity in scale, medium, and technique always interrogating the boundaries of his own work in relation to that of other disciplines. He has collaborated with designers, architects, engineers and entrepreneurs on a wide range of industry projects in the U.S. and in Europe, including residential and commercial buildings, private homes, urban regeneration and adaptive re-use, applications of AI technology in the built environment, and advanced computing for digital manufacturing. He has contributed to the design and construction of numerous exhibitions, pavilions, and physical prototypes internationally, some of which were showcased at the Venice Biennale of Architecture (2016/2023), the IASS Expo Pavilions (2015), the Biennial of Young Artists in Europe (2013), and the Benaki and Byzantine Culture Museums (2014). In addition to his academic and professional experience, Alex pursues artistic work with his primary medium being electronic music sound. He is self-trained in computer music technology which he uses since 2009 in the composition, production and performance of electronic music.
Collaboration Inquiries / Prospective Students:
I am available for collaboration on research projects, thesis supervision, architecture and creative projects, and industry consulting.
Students at Harvard: Please reach out using my harvard.edu address. Specify the reason for our meeting in the subject line and include a brief description of your background in the main email body.
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