Martha Tsigkari

Martha Tsigkari is a Senior Partner, architect and Design Systems Analyst at Foster + Partners, with two decades of industry experience. Martha’s professional background spans the disciplines of architecture, engineering and computer science. During her time at the practice she has worked on hundreds of projects at a variety of scales and stages, from conception to completion.

Martha’s work for Foster + Partners’ Applied Research and Development group incorporates computational and performance-driven design, human-computer interaction, machine learning, robotics and optimisation. She has investigated the use of deep neural networks and genetic algorithms in the design process, aiming to solve problems ranging from passively actuated micromaterials to performance-driven urban layouts. She has also led project-driven research and development related to the deployment of optimisation at scale, using distributed computing to generate optimised solution-spaces on a city scale. Martha is particularly interested in the potential of disruptive technologies to revolutionise the design-to-construction process. As part of Boston Dynamics’ Early Adopter Program, her team has been exploring the use of Spot, an agile robot, as a tool to capture and monitor progress on-site. Since joining Foster + Partners in 2006, Martha has provided designs and solutions for projects such as the new international airport for Mexico City, the Queen Alia Airport, the Zayed National Museum, the UAE Pavilion for the 2015 Milan Expo, the Hankook Technoplex, and the YachtPlus fleet. Martha is an Associate Professor at University College London, teaching postgraduate students at The Bartlett since 2009. She has been a juror and lecturer at various schools worldwide, including UPenn, Harvard, Cornell, MIT and the Architectural Association. She has published a number of peer-reviewed papers on the topic of computational design internationally. Martha is currently participating in both the Foster + Partners and Women in Architecture mentorship schemes.