Anthony Vanky

Anthony Vanky, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. He has previously held appointments in urban planning and technology at the University of Michigan and urban design at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Trained as an architect (Tulane University, M.Arch), urban designer (MIT, S.M.), and urban planner (MIT, Ph.D.), he focuses on technology-based practices in urban planning and design. Vanky’s research considers the use of digital data and pervasive sensing technologies in designing, planning, and evaluating urban environments and spans the disciplines of urban design, urban technologies, and computational social science.

Vanky has experience building innovative practices within the university, having helped shape the urban technology program at the University of Michigan and developed MIT designX, an academic accelerator dedicated to advancing innovation and entrepreneurship in design, cities, and the built environment, as its first academic program manager. He was also a research lead at the MIT Senseable City Lab, a multidisciplinary research group. He bridged the lab’s engagement with industry and the public as the Lab’s partner and outreach strategist. Vanky has consulted and widely presented on topics of design, technology, and urbanism, including at Harvard University, the British Government, and several dozen private and public organizations worldwide. His design work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, the Dutch Design Week, the Detroit Month of Design, New Orleans DesCours, and the Gwangju Design Biennial, among others.

Vanky has also previously served in national leadership capacities on each of the five governing organizations of the architecture profession in the United States, including the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and as National Vice President of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS). Anthony also launched two non-profit youth advocacy organizations, which are still active today in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

tl;dr: Anthony Vanky is an urbanist and researcher in data-centric processes and sensing technologies. He is currently teaching at Columbia University GSAPP, and previously affiliated with the University of Michigan – Taubman College, MIT Urban Studies and Planning, MIT designX, and the MIT Senseable City Lab. Anthony looks at data, design, and cities and keeps busy otherwise.