PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Matias del Campo

Matias del Campo is a Chilean-born Austrian architect and theorist whose work brings neural networks into architectural design. Born in Santiago in 1970, he trained in Hans Hollein's studio in Vienna and co-founded the practice SPAN with Sandra Manninger in 2003. At the University of Michigan's Taubman College, he launched the Architecture and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (AR2IL) in 2021, used generative adversarial networks to design the Robot Garden for Michigan Robotics, and wrote the books Neural Architecture (2022) and Diffusions in Architecture (2024). His research won the 2024 ACADIA Innovative Research Award of Excellence. Since 2025, he is founder and CEO of AKI GmbH, a Vienna company that builds sovereign AI systems, and a guest professor at TU Wien.

Now at
AKI GmbH and TU Wien
Born
1970
Badges

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1970–2003

    From Santiago to Hollein's studio

    Born in Santiago, Chile, in 1970, he studies at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, where Hans Hollein picks him to learn UNIX programming and test 3D modeling software. He earns a Master of Architecture with distinction in 2003.

  2. 2003–2011

    Co-founding SPAN in Vienna

    In 2003, he co-founds the architecture practice SPAN in Vienna with Sandra Manninger. SPAN wins the 2010 competition for the Austrian Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, and the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna gives it the solo exhibition ‘Formations’ in 2011.

  3. 2014–2018

    Joining Taubman College

    In 2014, he and Sandra Manninger join the faculty of the University of Michigan's Taubman College. He wins the Accelerate@CERN award in 2015, a one-month artist residency at CERN, and earns a PhD from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2018.

  4. 2018–2019

    The Robot Garden

    Working with Michigan's robotics and computer science faculties, he and SPAN use generative adversarial networks to design the Robot Garden for Michigan Robotics in 2018–2019. The garden is a landscape beside the new robotics building where scientists test bipedal walking robots.

  5. 2021–2022

    The AR2IL lab and Neural Architecture

    He launches the Architecture and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (AR2IL) at Taubman College in January 2021. His book Neural Architecture: Design and Artificial Intelligence comes out from ORO Editions in September 2022, and Wiley publishes his Architectural Design issue Machine Hallucinations: Architecture and Artificial Intelligence in 2022. In 2022, he also starts a project with Michigan Robotics on machine vision for sorting demolition materials for reuse.

  6. 2023

    A teaching innovation prize

    He receives the University of Michigan's 2023 Provost's Teaching Innovation Prize for ‘Architecture and Artificial Intelligence’, a set of seminars and studios run with computer science and robotics. In courses such as ARCH 509 and the thesis studio ARCH 662, students work hands-on with AI tools and weigh racial diversity, equality and inclusion when building datasets.

  7. 2024–2025

    Diffusions and a move to NYIT

    His book Diffusions in Architecture: Artificial Intelligence and Image Generators appears in 2024, examining how DALL·E 2, Stable Diffusion and Midjourney reshape architectural design. He receives the 2024 ACADIA Innovative Research Award of Excellence. From 2024 to 2025, he is an associate professor at the New York Institute of Technology and directs its MS.ACT program in architecture and computational technology.

  8. Since 2025

    Founding AKI in Vienna

    In 2025, he founds AKI GmbH (Angewandte Künstliche Intelligenz) in Vienna, which builds sovereign AI systems for industry, culture and public institutions, and becomes a guest professor at TU Wien. He leads AKI as founder and CEO, and at the UIA 2026 World Congress of Architects in Barcelona he describes training private models for architecture firms on the company's own hardware in a Vienna data center.

Career

  1. Since 2025AKI GmbHFounder and CEO
  2. Since 2025TU WienGuest professor
  3. 2024–2025New York Institute of TechnologyAssociate professor and MS.ACT program director
  4. From 2021Taubman College of Architecture and Urban PlanningFounder
  5. From 2014University of Michigan
  6. 2003–2011SpanCo-founder

Education

  1. 2018RMIT UniversityPhD
  2. 2003University of Applied Arts ViennaMaster of Architecture

From the biography.

  1. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Matias del Campo. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  2. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public rolesIncludes Matias del Campo. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public roles. Another 97 people moved from public careers into AI organizations or research, with 62% of dated records starting from 2020 on.
  3. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes TU Wien. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes TU Wien. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Matias del Campo yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Matias del Campo - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Matias del Campo — MAK Center for Art and Architecture makcenter.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Interview with Matias Del Campo - Arch2O.com arch2o.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Drs. Sandra Manninger & Matias del Campo — Syracuse Architecture soa.syr.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Matias del Campo on Sovereign AI, Chilean Cyber-Socialism, and Why Robots Can't Make Mistakes impulsar.media. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. del Campo Embraces Collaboration between AI and Architecture - Taubman College taubmancollege.umich.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Neural Architecture – Oro Editions – Publishers of Architecture, Art, and Design oroeditions.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Del Campo Receives Provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize - Taubman College taubmancollege.umich.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. AKI — Angewandte Künstliche Intelligenz, Wien aki.wien. Checked 20 October 2026.