PhD Tomaž Berčič
no.: 32490

architecture, urbanism, landscape architecture, terraced landscapes, spatial planning, parametric design, shape grammars, generative design, urban morphology, GIS (geographic information systems), CAD (computer-aided design), Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities, citizen science, artificial intelligence (AI), generative AI, machine learning, multi-parameter models, spatial data analysis, historical analysis of urban areas, remote sensing, LIDAR, geomatic tools, open science, FAIR data, EOSC, open data, public participation, sustainable development, territorial resilience, spatial models, mycelium, bio-based materials, creative and cultural industries

I am an architect and researcher in urbanism at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana, working at the intersection of spatial data science, sensors and the Internet of Things, and computational design. My core research joins advanced computing (CAD, GIS, machine learning) with open data and IoT sensing to rethink spatial and urban planning, combining sensor streams and open datasets to surface patterns in how cities and landscapes develop and feeding these back into design and policy. My doctoral dissertation, Evaluation of Spatial Solutions with Multi-Parameter Models, underpins this work and informs my interest in AI-supported planning. A growing part of my work concerns open science and research-data infrastructure. As leader of the University of Ljubljana side of OPEN-ARK, a preparatory action within the EOSC Gravity initiative, I help prepare a thematic node in the European Open Science Cloud for design and spatial research objects, so that models, datasets, drawings and simulations can be described, found and reused under FAIR principles. In strategic and action planning I focus on the link between policy and local governance, shaped by projects such as H2020 WeCount, Interreg EnCLOD (local-governance components) and HubCities (urban networks, and the decarbonisation of seaport and airport territory through citizen science). A recurring thread is the regeneration of waterfronts and port cities, from the northern Adriatic to Izola and Rijeka. I also study urban form and morphology through formal rules and computational (shape) grammars, working both generatively, with parametric and grammar-based methods for design and design education, and analytically, applying spatial data analysis and machine learning to the evolution of historical urban spaces. A more applied, resilience-oriented strand addresses terraced landscapes, with methods to reduce landslide risk and improve ecological stability; I edit several journals on terraced landscapes published by the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience at Coventry University. More experimentally, I work with mycelium and bio-based materials, developing bio-composite forms grown from agricultural waste and testing their structural, acoustic and thermal behaviour, with an emphasis on regenerative material cycles. A newer interest follows what generative AI means for the creative and cultural industries, including architecture and design, and for the way we teach design.