Since its founding in 1981, ACADIA has studied the role computing has played in architecture. That role has, of course, shifted dramatically since, and it's to the organization's credit that its agenda has remained open and critical enough to engage with whatever new application is thrown into the mix. Every year, ACADIA stages a conference with a hosting university in North America, to gather experts in the diversifying field for discussion and lectures. Alongside workshops and special exhibitions, the conference gives space for a breadth of discussions in both speculative and practical forums.

Archinect attended this year's ACADIA conference at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, tailored to the theme, "Design Agency". The question of how architectural design is affected by the tools used, regardless of digital innovations, has always been a controversial polemic, with designers debating merits and limitations to their wits' ends. But whatever the argument, the goal is to translate intent to reality, using whatever (computer-aided or not) means necessary.

To ground ourselves before our coverage of the conference began, we first reached out to co-chair Alvin Huang, who spoke on our podcast, Archinect Sessions, about ACADIA's background.

Next up, local designer and artist Anthony Morey covered our on-the-ground reporting, sifting through the substantial number of panels and presentations to draw together some of the conference's essential themes: fabrication, parametric and generative designs, virtual realities, and cross-disciplinary applications. Here are his daily reports on the conference's happenings:

Architecture in Flux: Reporting from ACADIA Conference, Day 1

Numbers don't cast shadows: Reporting from ACADIA Conference, Day 2

Vying for Attention: Reporting from ACADIA Conference, Day 3

And to wrap it all up, Anthony reflected on the conference's sheer diversity of appeal: how in the field of "computer-aided design", applications to architecture and beyond will continue to proliferate.

ACADIA Conference 2014: Architectural Auto Show

Our coverage also highlighted the three keynote lectures, all of which had their own interpretation and way of applying the "agency" behind computer-aided design:

Thursday, October 23: The theory of everything in sandbox city: Will Wright's keynote at ACADIA 2014

Friday, October 24: Zaha Hadid Keeps it Light at ACADIA 2014 Conference

Saturday, October 25: Did You See It? Wait, Now It's Gone: Casey Reas' Generative Art at ACADIA 2014

No doubt next year's ACADIA will revisit these discussions alongside a whole new slew of unforeseen applications. If there's one constant, it's that everything changes.