William Virgil
William Virgil, Coordinator
William Virgil (M.Arch 2, '16) is an artist, educator, Army veteran, cofounder of Brash Collective, and Design Faculty at SCI-Arc. Virgil holds a Master of Architecture from SCI-Arc, a Master of Human Resources, and a Bachelor of Architecture from Florida International University. Virgil has acted as a guest critic at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture (RPI), Syracuse, and Kent State Universities. Before returning to teach at SCI-Arc, he lectured at RPI. While studying at SCI-Arc, Virgil both taught as an assistant to Frank Gehry in a studio examining Prisons of the Future and collaborated with Gehry Partners. Additionally, he taught studios and seminars in SCI-Arc’s Design of Cities postgraduate program.
Virgil’s work has been exhibited both domestically and internationally at Hauser & Wirth, A+D Museum, LACI LA Kretz Innovation Campus, SCI-Arc Gallery, One Night Stand LA with Familiar Primitives design team, Kent CAED, Armstrong Gallery in Ohio, and Arsenal Gallery in Poland. His research focuses on examining an architect's role as a visual storyteller through media by utilizing film and compositing techniques. Virgil is interested in multidisciplinary formal explorations in design between ordinary objects and eccentric modeling techniques, and his research operates at the intersection of art, architecture, and technology.
Curime Batliner
Curime Batliner, Instructor
Curime Batliner (b. 1983, Costa Rica, Liechtenstein) works at the convergence of architecture, 3D animation, interface design, and robotics. His work stands out at the top level of the emerging discipline of creative robotics and embodies the shifting relationships between the human and the artificial in the design process. Batliner holds an M.Arch from SCI-Arc. His work has been exhibited at Design Miami and he has worked with clients such as Creative Artists Agency (CAA), ETV, and Apple. Other projects include Greg Lynn's RV prototype and the Marxer Active Energy Building in Vaduz. His design research is published at the ICRA IEEE International Conference for Robotics and Automation as well as Robots in Architecture.
Julia McConnell
Julia McConnell, Instructor
Julia McConnell is a designer and photographer with global experience in architectural design, photography, filmmaking, and brand management. Julia holds a bachelor’s degree in architectural studies from Mount Holyoke College and a Master of Architecture degree from SCI-Arc. She is the co-founder of Gluten, a design studio located in Los Angeles.
McConnell’s interests explore the interstitial, playing with the relationship between dialogue and design present at the intersection of digital and analog. Intentionally reappropriating terminology and vernacular, new abstractions are formed to redefine the status quo. Sticky, elastic, and taboo, her studio takes a visceral and playful approach to design. Her work has been featured at the 2021 Seoul Biennale and she has completed projects in Kenya, Malta, New York City, Paris, and Los Angeles, allowing her to develop her skills in architectural drawing, visualization, sustainability techniques, and construction administration on a global stage.
Kumaran Parthiban
Kumaran Parthiban, Instructor
Kumaran Parthiban is an architect, educator, and multidisciplinary designer operating in Los Angeles, California and Chennai, India. Kumaran was born in India. He earned his Bachelor of Architecture from MEASI Academy of Architecture, Chennai in 2017 and Master of Architecture from SCI-Arc in 2020.
Kumaran practices as a licensed architect in Chennai and has won invited competition projects with Oscar and Ponni Architects. He has collaborated on architectural projects with Cadence Architects in Bengaluru and WEBE Design lab in Chennai. He has taught architectural design and trained interns at both OCI Architects and DVS Center, Chennai.
Kumaran has taught at SCI-Arc as a Teaching Assistant for visual study seminars, design studio, and as an Assistant Teacher for “Rethinking Heights” Vertical Design Studio, which is to be exhibited at the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2021. He currently works at Atelier Manferdini in Los Angeles while lecturing online for architecture schools in Chennai and teaching design workshops in China.
His work explores architecture through the creation of parallel digital environments through virtual reality, simulations, and creative digital workflows. He has developed varying projects that explore this topic, including his graduate thesis “The Z Object,” which responded to the rapidly changing zeitgeist of the contemporary world, and the new possibilities that Gen Z present.
Kristoff Fink, Teaching Assistant
Kristoff Fink (M.Arch 2 ‘23)
Lilith Ren, Teaching Assistant
Lilith Ren (M.Arch 2 ‘22)
La’Keem Timothy, Teaching Assistant
La’Keem Timothy (M.Arch 1 ‘24)
Donwon Choi, Teaching Assistant
Donwon Choi (M.Arch 1 '22)