Archinect
Aaron Willette

Aaron Willette

Brooklyn, NY, US

 

About 

Aaron likes his music loud, his coffee black and his whiskey neat.

A designer and technologist in Brooklyn, NY, his current investigations relate to the practical application of computational tools and their intersection with traditional interpretations of craft and technique. Aaron is a founding partner of the design and research practice Khôra with his long-time collaborator Rob Trumbour. Together they recently curated the exhibition Bigger than a Breadbox, Smaller than a Building for the Boston Society of Architects. He would tell you about his day job, but he'd have to neutralize you if he did.

Elsewhere:

Aaron's Design Blog on Archinect:

Tangential Fabrications : or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Computer

An in-the-trenches view of digital fabrication, academic research, post-hardcore music and whiskey. Not necessarily in that order and often in combination.

Category Title

Aaron's Featured Articles on Archinect

C.W. Keller, the Family-Run Fabricators Working with Google and WeWork, Discuss the Art of Streamlining Construction, Thu, Oct 6 '16

Shawn Keller is the President of C.W. Keller + Associates, an engineering and fabrication company headquartered 45 minutes north of Boston in Plaistow, NH. I’ll sheepishly admit that, despite their long history, until a handful of years ago I was only vaguely aware of the office and their ...

C.W. Keller, the Family-Run Fabricators Working with Google and WeWork, Discuss the Art of Streamlining Construction
 

3D-printing a better skeleton for concrete structures, with Platt Boyd of Branch Technology, Tue, Aug 30 '16

Platt Boyd is the Founder and CEO of Branch Technology, a start-up in Chattanooga, Tennessee that is actively pursuing the intersection of technology and construction. Their Cellular Fabrication (C-Fab) system combines industrial robotics and material science to 3D print a large-scale, optimized ...

3D-printing a better skeleton for concrete structures, with Platt Boyd of Branch Technology
 

'Matters of Scale' with Bill Zahner, head of the engineering-design consultancy behind the Petersen Automotive Museum's redesign, Tue, May 31 '16

For the second installation of the Matters of Scale series I’m talking to Bill Zahner, president and CEO of the A. Zahner Company. For many people Bill doesn’t need an introduction—he’s been involved with the engineering and fabrication of metal façade systems for ...

'Matters of Scale' with Bill Zahner, head of the engineering-design consultancy behind the Petersen Automotive Museum's redesign
 

Matters of Scale: Mass – an interview with Jim Durham of Quarra Stone, Fri, Dec 11 '15

Quarra Stone is a great example of the type of practices I’ll be talking to as part of the Matters of Scale series on Archinect. They’re specialty fabricators that are recognized experts in their field, employing many of the tools and technologies being discussed in academia to craft ...

Matters of Scale: Mass – an interview with Jim Durham of Quarra Stone
 

MIT, Going FAST After 150 Years, Fri, May 6 '11

In 2011 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology celebrates the 150th anniversary of its founding, an occasion marked with 150 consecutive days of activities commemorating its long history of technology innovation. The most prominent of the exhibits, performances and symposia making up the ...

MIT, Going FAST After 150 Years
 

Employment 

WeWork, New York, NY, US, Senior Associate, Manufacturing

Jun 2018 - current
 

Khôra, Brooklyn, NY, US, Founding partner

Jun 2012 - current
 

Apple, Cupertino, CA, US, Robotics Engineer

Jul 2015 - May 2018
 

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, US, FABLab Coordinator

May 2013 - Jul 2015
 

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, US, Graduate Student Research Assistant

Sep 2011 - Apr 2013
 

Artforming, Principal

Jul 2008 - Jun 2012
 
Oct 2008 - Sep 2011
 

Wentworth Institute of Technology, Model shop supervisor

Jan 2006 - Aug 2011
 

Dietz & Co. Architects, Intern architect

Nov 2004 - Jan 2006
 

Education 

University of Michigan, Masters, MSArch, Digital Technologies & Material Systems

Sep 2011 - current
 

Wentworth Institute of Technology, BArch, Architecture

Sep 2000 - May 2004
 

Wentworth Institute of Technology, Architectural Engineering

Sep 2000 - May 2004
 

Areas of Specialization