Antoine Picon

Antoine Picon is the G. Ware Travelstead Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design (GSD), where he also chairs the PhD program in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning. His research bridges historical analysis with contemporary digital culture, focusing on the interplay between architecture, technology, and society. Picon holds degrees in engineering, architecture, and history from prestigious institutions, including the École Polytechnique and École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.

His work explores themes such as urban natures, smart cities, materiality in architecture, and the legacy of utopian movements. Key publications include Natures Urbaines: Une Histoire Technique et Sociale (2024), The Materiality of Architecture (2021), and Smart Cities: A Spatialised Intelligence (2015). He has curated exhibitions like Urban Natures: A Technological and Political History 1600-2030 (2025) and served as Chairman of the Fondation Le Corbusier (2013–2024).

• Education:
  • Science and Engineering Degrees: École Polytechnique, École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées
  • Architecture: École d’Architecture de Paris-Villemin
  • PhD and Habilitation: École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales

Picon’s awards include the French Académie des Technologies membership (2010), Chevalier des Arts et Lettres (2014), and multiple architectural prizes. His recent research investigates AI’s impact on architectural intentionality and the Anthropocene’s challenges to material practices.

He teaches courses on digital-age architecture, urban infrastructure, and the post-anthropocene. His work consistently emphasizes ethical and political dimensions of technological change in urban environments.