Design Modelling Symposium 2026

The process of designing — and what it means to design — is undergoing profound change. As the scale of the construction industry’s impact on the environment and social structures becomes increasingly palpable, the boundaries of ethical responsibility are being redrawn. At the same time, the growing integration of machine-learned knowledge into everyday decision-making processes is reshaping the scope of human agency. Meanwhile, moves toward greater care for the existing built environment call for renewed attention to materials — not as passive means of action, but as active agents shaping societal change.

These disruptive factors compel us, the DMS community, to reassess the very role of building designers today. Who decides what? What decides for whom? How can we control the impact of these decisions? What is not to be decided — and why?

The DMS26 Switzerland is dedicated to exploring these questions through the shifting relationship between the designer, architect or structural engineer and the intelligent machine. Across three thematic lenses, we will investigate how this relationship is reshaping our practices: