Philip Beesley, MRAIC OAA

With the Hylozoic Ground project, Philip Beesley is demonstrating how buildings in the future might move, and even feel and think. In a series of installations that have attracted global attention, Beesley is leading a group of experts from science and art in creating a uniquely Canadian experimental architecture. Beesley is a professor at the School of Architecture, University of Waterloo and is principal of the Toronto design collective PBAI. Accomplishments in the last three decades include numerous public buildings, sculpture, and landscape installations.

Beesley’s work is widely published and exhibited. Projects this past year have included installations in Madrid, Linz, Enschede, Brussels, New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and most recently at the COP15 Copenhagen climate summit. Beesley has given keynote presentations across Canada and in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Linz. His work has also appeared in Barcelona, Beijing, Tokyo, and Taipei and has been featured in WIRED and MARK magazine and journals including the covers of LEONARDO and ARTIFICIAL LIFE.

Distinctions for his work include the Prix de Rome in Architecture (Canada), 1st prize at Spain’s VIDA 11.0, a Far Eastern International Digital Architectural Design Award (FEIDAD), and two Dora Mavor Moore Awards.

Philip Beesley holds degrees summa cum laude in visual art at Queen’s University, in technology at Humber College, and in architecture at the University of Toronto.