Assistant Professor of Architecture, Computation and Representation, Fall 2026

The School of Architecture at the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) invites applications for multiple tenure-track faculty members at the Assistant Professor rank to begin August 1 2026. These positions are for full-time 9-month appointments. Applications for the rank of Associate Professor will be considered.

We are seeking inventive collaborative and critically-minded candidates whose research and teaching creatively engage with the fields of computation and representation in architecture. As architectures relationship with computation continues to expandfrom digital fabrication and machine learning to generative design and advanced visualizationit is incumbent upon the discipline to more carefully craft its engagement with these emerging technological cultural and aesthetic conditions. At the same time architectural practice is evolving alongside new technologies from robotics and artificial intelligence to virtual reality and bio-material systems where computational and representational expertise provide critical means to design with and think through data to visualize complex phenomena and to reassess the nature of authorship agency and form in the digital age.

We welcome a broad range of expertise within this area including but not limited to: computational theory and criticism; advanced digital design and fabrication practices; creative visualization rendering and generative image-making; inventive approaches to building information modeling; and digital workflows for design and construction. Processes tools and methods that position architecture as both a technical and cultural practiceone capable of engaging with the complexities of computation automation and visualization as they shape contemporary lifeare especially valued. Subtopics of concern might include but are not limited to:

Computation and materiality: robotic fabrication bio- or nano-material systems performance simulation design analysis responsive environments parametric and algorithmic design.

Computation and culture: artificial intelligence and creative agency digital image cultures data ethics and authorship planetary-scale computation and its architectural implications.

Computation and representation: visualization simulation and narrative as design media; hybrid digital-physical processes; immersive and extended reality environments; generative drawing scanning sensing and mapping as modes of inquiry.

Candidates should demonstrate the ability to teach design studios and contribute to both required and elective courses in the undergraduate and graduate architecture programs. Recent curricular developments in the and programs have expanded opportunities in computation digital workflows and representational literacy. The successful candidate will play a key role in shaping these courses and integrating them into the broader curriculum through their expertise and pedagogical vision.

Candidates are expected to build upon and extend the schools existing strengths while establishing a strong research and/or creative agenda leading to tenure. Candidates should describe a proposed research agenda comprised of creative work scholarly publication technical innovation and/or speculative or critical inquiry at the intersection of design computation and representation. Start-up funding is available to support the development of research in the candidates area of specialization.

About the School

The University of Tennessee Knoxville is a Research-1 land-grant university that houses eleven colleges and more than nine hundred programs of study. The College of Architecture and Design promotes imaginative curious and empathetic design offering degrees in Architecture Interior Architecture Landscape Architecture and Graphic Design. The School of Architecture is committed to excellence in design education creative activity research and outreach missions. The schools growing faculty of around thirty full-time faculty members represent a breadth of creative experience academic expertise and innovative teaching for more than 400 architecture students. Generous state scholarship programs make education accessible to students from a broad range of backgrounds and income levels. Over 30% of our students are from out-of-state or are international.

The College is committed to access engagement and addressing the family needs of faculty members including dual-career couples sole-provider or single-parent families and faculty with family caretaking responsibilities.

The College of Architecture and Design meets for courses and cultural activities in three main facilities: the 160000-square-foot Art Architecture Building in the center of UT Knoxvilles campus; the 20000-square-foot FabLab an advanced maker space located downtown; and a new satellite location that will house design studios faculty and staff in the center of Knoxville.

The Art Architecture Building is an award-winning building which features open studios a four-story atrium the Ewing Gallery a woodshop review spaces lecture halls and faculty and staff offices. Our Fab Lab which is equipped with state-of-the-art robotics and advanced machinery for digital fabrication and computational construction allows our faculty and students to integrate emerging technology into design education and research.

About Knoxville and the Region

Known as The Maker City Knoxville is the third largest city in Tennessee with a metropolitan statistical area population of just over 900000. Downtown Knoxville supports an energetic urban culture with several entertainment venues for theater film art and live music that range in scale as well as numerous acclaimed restaurants. The city also regularly hosts minority-heritage celebrations music and arts festivals farmers markets and community gardens. Knoxvilles unique walkable residential and business districts include historic Market Square and Old City North and South Waterfronts and the Urban Wilderness recreational area.

With a rich and diverse history East Tennessee offers a vibrant backdrop for exploration in architecture and design. The broader region is comprised of urban areas across scales that are set within the agricultural and natural landscapes of Southern Appalachia including numerous state and national parks. The region also has a strong tradition of cutting-edge technological and scientific exploration supported by public partnerships between the University of Tennessee the Tennessee Valley Authority and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Required Qualifications
Candidates must hold at least one of the following: a professional graduate degree in architecture; an undergraduate degree in architecture and a graduate or doctoral degree in a related field; or an international equivalent of any of these.

Desired Qualifications (address those applicable in application)

On Teaching

• Teaching experience in a university setting
• Experience or capacity for integrating emerging technologies with studio seminar and/or lecture teaching
• Experience with or ability to implement experimental teaching in terms of modality methodology and/or format
• Experience with or aptitude for teaching collaborative and/or interdisciplinary courses

On Research Scholarship Creative Activity and Engaged Scholarship Research

• A trajectory in scholarship creative activities and/or engaged research.
• Experience with or promise of disseminating research or creative accomplishments.
• Experience or capacity for successful grant writing.

On Access and Engagement

• Commitment to fostering student success student empowerment and the development of inclusive cultures within studio and classroom settings.
• An interest in pursuing creative practice and/or scholarship that is inclusive of all communities and geographies.

Salary and benefits will be commensurate with the experience and accomplishments of the candidate.

Candidates wishing to be considered for rank of Associate Professor require a minimum of five years of experience at the rank of Assistant Professor.