This is the eighth in a series of events related to the presidential theme of Tomas Rossant, AIA, “Dialogues from the Edge of Practice.” The theme intends to explore how architects are boldly enlarging the purview of the practitioner to bring their particular critical problem solving skills and design acumen to endeavors previously considered outside the traditional scope of practice. There has never been a time when the role of the architect has been more relevant as an instrument to shape culture, society, and positive environmental outcomes. “Dialogues” will engage the practitioners amongst us who are breaking rules, trying new things, and taking new risks—expanding the impact of the architect—and disseminate their experiences to our professional community.

“Edge Digital: The Interactive Building” will find the edge potential of interactivity between humans and architecture and define the fully “addressable building.” The rise in computational power, its decrease in cost, and the advent of the smart phone have created fabulous changes in our culture and our environment. Yet our buildings have yet to take full advantage of personal technology to foster a new way to interact with architecture. Imagine seeing real-time water and energy use on your phone, or looking into a wall—like X-ray vision—from your pad interfacing location software and a BIM model. Why should we not expect environments to change—digitally and even physically—when our presence is digitally detected?

This event was preceded by a think tank roundtable discussion with thought leaders deeply involved with digital building techniques.