Vera Parlac
Associate Professor, NJ School of Architecture
- vera.m.parlac@njit.edu
- 973-596-5579
- 331 Colton Hall (COLT)
About Me
Vera Parlac is an architect and educator focusing on integrative approach to design and practice. She is a registered architect in Pennsylvania, and an associate professor of architecture at the Hillier Collage of Architecture and Design, New Jersey Institute of Technology. She received a diploma engineer in architecture degree from University of Belgrade and master’s degree in architecture from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Vera Parlac is a founder of the Building Dynamics Laboratory, a design research laboratory where design is engaged as a broadly integrative endeavor by fluidly navigating across different disciplinary territories.
Prior to her appointment at NJIT, she taught design and other subjects at several universities in Canada, Asia and North America, most recently at University of Calgary. Vera has worked in architectural firms in Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston, Miami, and Los Angeles, including Carlos Zapata Design Studio and Kieran Timberlake Associates.
Prior to her appointment at NJIT, she taught design and other subjects at several universities in Canada, Asia and North America, most recently at University of Calgary. Vera has worked in architectural firms in Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston, Miami, and Los Angeles, including Carlos Zapata Design Studio and Kieran Timberlake Associates.
Education
M.Arch.; University of California-Los Angeles; Architectural Design; 1993
B.Arch.; University of Belgrade; Faculty of Architecture; 1988
Awards & Honors
Teaching Interests
I see teaching as a highly integrative activity, a site for crossing boundaries between practice, scholarship, and pedagogy. Teaching for me is not only a way of transmitting knowledge but also a way of developing abilities to apply what is learned. Critical in this process is skill to link elements, perceptions, and facts of different nature. In my teaching I focus on helping students to recognize and reveal these links. I strive to integrate course material I teach with other subjects and find connection across curriculum to enable student to recognize the links between the elements, perceptions and facts of different nature.
I teach design studio courses across the curriculum, construction courses and seminars in my area of research
I teach design studio courses across the curriculum, construction courses and seminars in my area of research
Past Courses
Research Interests
Vera’s current design and research is focused on responsive materials (such as shape memory alloy) and inflatable pneumatic muscles, and their integration into architectural assemblies. This research is informed by contemporary models in biology, material science research, soft robotics and mechatronic systems and centers on experiments with composite materials and assemblies that embody behavior and have capacity to adapt under external and internal influences.
In Progress
Soft Kinetics: Façade Shading System
I have built several prototypes of a kinetic façade system that uses inflatable muscles (pneu) to provide adaptive shading.
I have built several prototypes of a kinetic façade system that uses inflatable muscles (pneu) to provide adaptive shading.
Conference Paper
Journal Article
Chapter
Professional