Robert Brackett

Robert is an architecturally trained designer-maker and educator.  He operates a multi-disciplinary design practice, Miscellaneous Projects, llc, founded in 2012 with Laura Coombs, as a platform for exploring ways of designing and making that blend traditional techniques with computational fabrication technology from multiple disciplines. Miscellaneous Projects strives to discover and provide the unexpected through recombination and crossover of techniques and methods. Robert has experience in architectural design, product design, graphic design, furniture design, CNC fabrication technologies & production workflows, and materials research & development.

Robert is co-director of the d.r.a. (Center for Design Research in Architecture) at Pratt where he leads research projects exploring the intersection of geometry, materials, and fabrication technology. His teaching experience includes architecture design studios, computational design & fabrication seminars, fashion design, architectural representation, and software design & development. He has taught at Pratt Institute, Columbia University GSAPP, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York College of Technology – Architectural Technologies, City College of NY, and Brooklyn College.

M.Arch., Columbia University GSAPP 2007

B.S.Arch, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign 2004;

Brackett, Robert L. III, and Duks Koschitz. “Sustainable Form-Active Structures: A Design Research Methodology at Two Scales.” Formy.Xyz, no. No. 13/2022, https://formy.xyz/en/artykul/sustainable-form-active-structures-a-design-research-methodology-at-two-scales/, (2022)

Brackett, Robert, Proceedings of “Schools of Thought: Rethinking Architectural Pedagogy” Architecture Revisits Math & Science :: Computation In A Visual Thinking Pedagogy, Norman, OK, USA March 5-7, 2020, The University of Oklahoma Gibbs School of Architecture. (2020)

Brackett, Robert & Frey, Sacha, [TRANS-] Fiction, Volume 6, Comics Beyond Fiction, The University of Arizona, College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape, (2020)

2023-present Exploring Transdisciplinary Approaches To STEM Teaching and Learning

Participant, NSF grant establishing a Pratt Faculty Learning Community studying transdisciplinary teaching practices. Observe and conduct courses based on transdisciplinary learning practices.

2022-2023 ALNY + NYSCA – Architecture + Design Independent Projects Grant recipient

Co-Recipient with Duks Koschtz (d.r.a.) of the Architecture League of New York Independent Projects Grant for 2022. Research into lightweight inflatable formwork for GFRC fabric 3D mold forms using 2D CNC fabrication.

2022-2023 Pratt Center for K-12 Fellowship with Duks Koschitz

Finding Fun Form – Inflatable Geometry and Fabrication Techniques for Architecture

2022-2023 Castflatables (Pratt Faculty Development Fund)

Funded research into lightweight inflatable formwork for GFRC fabric mold forms.

2021-2022 Pratt Center for K-12 Fellowship with Olivia Vien

Integrating Math and Material in Design :: Hybrid Digital-Analog Geometry Systems

2020-2022           Inverting Pratt’s Design Studios, Pratt Strategic Initiative

Pratt Provost Office Strategic Plan funded research into novel teaching techniques for online design studios. Presented during Berlin Design Week 2021 and at AMPS 2022. Self-published online art and design teaching manual.

2020-2021 Realtime Growth Metrics, Faculty Learning Community (FLC): Ungrading

Participation in the Center for Teaching and Learning Faculty Learning Community with support from the d.r.a., focused on developing the scholarship of teaching and learning around the topics of Flux and Ungrading. The research focuses on developing a non-grade-based growth and performance metrics platform to support student development in studio-based learning. 

2019-2020 COMPOSE: Contemplative Practices and Positive Education

COMPOSE was a series of faculty development workshops with the goal of establishing a personal practice framed around the concepts of learned optimism, resilience, and meaning-making.

2015-2020 COMICS: Architectural Narratives

Research conducted with Professor Sacha Frey into the comic structure and a medium for hybrid visual and verbal storytelling for architectural design studios. Work published in [TRANS-] Fiction 2020 and exhibited at the University of Oklahoma “Schools of Thought: Rethinking Architectural Pedagogy” conference 2020.

2016-2020    First Year Design Pedagogy Manual – with Duks Koschitz, d.r.a.

Development of a pedagogical manual for first-year design faculty to improve teaching consistency and practices across 12 sections of Arch 101 and 102. 

2014 Green Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative NYCCT, CUNY Career Path Program

New York Department of Labor Grant :: New York, NY

Develop courses for Architecture, design, and fabrication professionals interested in re-tooling or honing their skills in Digital Fabrication.  Funded by a U.S. Department of Labor grant to integrate sustainable fabrication processes into a professional workflow.

2011-2014 FUSE LAB :: NYCCT, City University of New York :: Brooklyn, NY

Collaborator for the development of FUSE LAB curriculum through a National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Education grant.  The primary focus was on integrating computation and fabrication into architectural technologies and continuing education curriculums.