William J. Mitchell

Interview

• "Imagine a world made up of things that think and are intelligent: that is the city of bits" (Naples, 14 January 1998)

Biography

William Mitchell, born in 1944, holds a B.Arch. (honors) from the University of Melbourne, a MED from Yale University, and a MA from the University of Cambridge.

He is currently Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences and Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at MIT. Previously he was the G. Ware and Edythe M. Travelstead Professor of Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and before that Head of the Architecture / Urban Design Program at UCLA and Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Cambridge. He has held visiting positions at numerous universities in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

He teaches courses and conducts research in design theory, computer applications in architecture and urban design, and imaging and image synthesis. He is best known for his achievements in the development of architectural design theory and practice in the information age as well as the worldwide promotion of CAD education.

His most recent book, City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn (MIT Press, 1995) focuses on the architectural, urban, and social consequences of the unfolding digital revolution.

He has consulted extensively, and from 1978 to 1991 was a founding partner of The Computer-Aided Design Group, a Los Angeles software company that created and marketed CAD and facilities management systems. In 1996/97 he chaired (with Michael Dertouzos as co-chair) a MIT-wide Council on Educational Technology and produced a report recommending an ambitious program to carry MIT to a leadership position development and use of innovative educational technology. He also chairs the Editorial Board of the MIT Press, and is a member of the Management Board.

He has been awarded an honorary AM from Harvard University, Doctor of Humane Letters from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Doctor of Architecture from the University of Melbourne. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1997 he was awarded the annual Appreciation Prize of the Architectural Institute of Japan for "achievements in the development of architectural design theory and practice in the information age as well as worldwide promotion of CAD education".

Mitchell is the author of numerous papers and articles and is currently working on a new book tentatively titled E-topia.

Bibliography

Among his publications are:

• The Reconfigured Eye: Visual Truth in the Post-Photographic Era (MIT Press,1992).
• The Logic of Architecture: Design, Computation, and Cognition (MIT Press, 1990).
• The Poetics of Gardens, with Charles W. Moore and William Turnbull Jr. (MIT Press, 1988).
• Computer-Aided Architectural Design (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977).