“First Matter” Symposium At Charlotte Reframes Alchemical Tradition With Today’s Digital Realm
Wed, Feb 18, 2026 | 1pm to 5pm
9115 Mary Alexander Road, Charlotte, NC 28223
The UNC Charlotte David R. Ravin School of Architecture presents the second event in the Marley P. Carroll, FAIA, Speaker Series.
The ancient practice of alchemy held that prima materia—or “first matter”—was the base substance from which all physical things originate. Raw and undifferentiated, it was a substance of infinite possibility whose chaotic nature required the alchemist’s skill and intention to harness its latent potential and guide its material transformation.
This symposium applies a critical lens to our contemporary moment, reframing the alchemical tradition within today’s digital realm. It marks digital technologies as both sites of generative potential and subjects of material critique. First Matter brings together architects, designers, and scholars who are pioneering novel approaches to AI, computed imagery, and material practice to examine how practitioners are guiding raw digital substance into new material realities.
“First Matter” coincides with the Generative Fields exhibition in Lambla Gallery.
The Marley P. Carroll, FAIA, Speaker Series was established through the generous support of Richard McCracken to honor Marley Carroll’s enduring legacy of leadership and architectural education.
Guest speakers:
Brandon Clifford is the director and co-founder of Matter Design and an associate professor of architecture at MIT. Clifford has pioneered ‘projective archaeology,’ architecture’s version of magical realism, which creatively blends historical events with imaginary futures. He has received numerous awards, including the American Academy in Rome Prize, TED Fellowship, MacDowell Fellowship, SOM Prize, Design Biennial Boston Award, and the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects & Designers.
Karel Klein is the co-director of Ruy Klein and an architect licensed in New York state. She teaches at Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), and the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design. In more recent studios, Klein has been working with her students on projects that collaborate with artificial intelligence neural networks as a provocation to conventional aesthetic practices in architectural design.
Andrew Witt is the inaugural Kavita and Krishna Bharat Professor in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. The new role focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) with art, architecture and design. The professorship includes a joint appointment at the McKelvey School of Engineering. His current book project, “The Cyborg Home,” considers the history and future of autonomous and artificially intelligent houses.