Benay Gursoy Toykoç

Benay Gürsoy Toykoç is an assistant professor of architecture at Penn State. Her research and teaching focus is on computational making, digital fabrication, craft theory, shape studies, basic design education, and cognitive studies of the design process. She has published and presented her research internationally and received awards in international conferences.

From 2010 to 2016, Toykoç taught first-year design studios, geometry, and design computing courses at Istanbul Bilgi University as a faculty member in architecture. She has instituted undergraduate elective courses including a course on “hacking materials and production methods.”She has also lectured and taught workshops at several universities in Turkey, including AA Istanbul Visiting Schools.

Toykoç completed her doctoral studies in the Architectural Design Computing Program at Istanbul Technical University (2016). Her Ph.D. thesis focuses on understanding how material manipulation in design can become an integral part of the computational design process. Her dissertation received the Best Ph.D. Dissertation Award from Istanbul Technical University, Graduate School of Science, Engineering, and Technology for the graduating students of 2016.

• Ph.D. – Architectural Design Computing, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, 2016
• M.Arch. – Department of Architecture, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, 2010
• B.Arch. – Department of Architecture, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, 2007

• Istanbul Technical University, Graduate School of Science, Engineering, and Technology, June 2017: Best Ph.D. Dissertation Award
• CAAD Futures 2015: Best Paper Award (co-writers: Iestyn Jowers, Mine Özkar)
• CAADRIA 2010: Young CAADRIA Award
• TUBITAK, 2010–15: National Scholarship Program for Ph.D. Students
• TUBITAK, 2007–09: National Scholarship Program for M.Sc. Students
• Middle East Technical University, 2007: Ranked first in her graduating class in the Department of Architecture

• 2019-20: "Fabrication of Custom Wood-Based Filaments using An Open- Source 3D Printer Filament Extruder", The Pennsylvania State University - President’s Fund for Undergraduate Research/Creative Activities.
• 2019-20: "Mycelium-Based Materials in Architecture: A Biodegradable and Renewable Alternative to Construction", The Pennsylvania State University - SCDC Interdisciplinary Faculty Research Grants.
• 2019-20: "Designing for Shape-Change: Smart and Bio-Smart Materials in Architectural Skins and Structures", The Pennsylvania State University - Collaborative Design Research (CDR).
• 2018-19: "An Open-Source 3D Printer Filament Extruder for 3D Printing Using Unconventional Materials", The Pennsylvania State University - President’s Fund for Undergraduate Research/Creative Activities.
• 2018-19: "Responsive Architectural Surface Systems for Harvesting and Saving Energy", The Pennsylvania State University - SCDC Interdisciplinary Faculty Research Grants.
• 2016: "Digital Fabrication Tools Informing Design Ideation: Studies in 3D Printing with Clay", The Pennsylvania State University - SCDC Project Support.
• 2016: "Light It Up!", The Pennsylvania State University - SCDC Project Support.
• 2015-16: “Visualizing Making in Design”, Istanbul Technical University – Coordinatorship of Scientific Research Projects, (with Mine Özkar).

• eCAADe + SIGraDI 2019, September 9-13, 2019, University of Porto, Porto – Portugal "Mycelium-Based Bio Composites for Architecture: Assessing the Effects of Cultivation Factors on Compressive Strength" (co-writers: Ali Ghazvinian, Paniz Farrokhsiar, Fabricio Vieira, John Pecchia)
• CAADRIA 2019, April 15-18, 2019, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington – New Zealand "Designing For Shape-Change: A Case study on 3D Printing Composite Materials for Responsive Architectures" (co-writers: Elena Vazquez, Jose Duarte)
• Materiart 2019, April 11-12, 2019, University of Lisbon, Lisbon – Portugal "Growing Architecture: Mycelium as Blocks and Mortar" (co-writers: Tyler Corbley, Andrew Chesakis)
• NCBDS 2019, March 14-16, 2019, University of Colorado Denver, Denver – USA "Model-Idea-Model: From Abstraction of Context to Systematic Organization of Space"
• eCAADe 2018, September 19-21, 2018, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz – Poland "From Control to Uncertainty in 3D Printing with Clay"
• Nexus 2018, June 11-14, 2018, University of Pisa, Pisa – Italy "Material Shapes and How to Compute with Them" (co-writer: Mine Özkar)
• CAADRIA 2018, May 17-19, 2018, Tsinghua University, Beijing – China "Bridging Parametric Design and Craftsmanship: Materializing the Digital Parametric Brick Wall with Low-tech Construction Techniques" (co-writers: Elena Vazquez, Julio Diarte)
• NCBDS 2018, March 1-3, 2018, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati – USA "Learning to Compute in Design by Making Geometry"
• CAAD Futures 2017, July 12-14, 2017, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul – Turkey "Computing Stitches and Crocheting Geometry" (co writers: Özgüç B. Çapunaman, C. Koray Bingöl)
• CAADRIA 2016, March 30-April 2, 2016, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne – Australia "Why is Making Important for the Culture of Design?"
• CAAD Futures 2015, July 6-10 2015, Unicamp, Sao Paulo-Brasil "Formal Descriptions of Material Manipulations" (co writers: Iestyn Jowers, Mine Özkar)
• Nexus 2014, June 9-12, 2014, Middle East Technical University, Ankara – Turkey "Schematizing Basic Design in Ilhan Koman’s ‘Embryonic’ Approach"
• eCAADe 2012, September 12-14, 2012, Czech Technical University, Prague – Czech Republic "The Hands-on Basics of Contemporary Design Education"
• DRS 2010, July 7-9, 2010, Université de Montreal, Montreal – Canada "Is Model-Making Sketching in Design?"
• CAADRIA 2010, April 7-10, 2010, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

• Craft, Light, Geometry April 18- May 24, 2019 – Woskob Family Gallery, State College – USA
• Dreams to Realities: Projections on Education – Vitra Contemporary Architecture Series III March 13- June 1, 2014 – Istanbul Modern, Istanbul – Turkey (curator: Şebnem Yalınay Çinici)
• Archizines World Tour Exhibition Design November 1-24, 2013 – It’s Open, Istanbul - Turkey

• Vazquez, E., Gürsoy, B., Duarte, J. (2019). Formalizing Shape-Change: Three- dimensional Printed Shapes and Hygroscopic Material Transformations. International Journal of Architectural Computing.
• Gürsoy, B., Özkar, M. (2015). Visualizing Making: Shapes, Materials, and Actions. Design Studies (41), pp.29-50.
• Gürsoy, B., Özkar, M. (2015). Schematizing Basic Design in Ilhan Koman’s “Embryonic” Approach. Nexus Network Journal 17(3), 981-1005.

• Corbley, T., Chesakis. A., Gürsoy, B. (2019). Growable Architecture: Mycelium as Blocks and Mortar, in Materiality as a Process (eds: da Costa M. C., Ozkar M., Formiga B., Abbas G. M.). Casal de Cambra: Caleidoscopio - Ediçao e Artes Graficas, pp. 185-194.
• Çapunaman, Ö., Bingöl, C.K., Gürsoy, B. (2017). Computing Stitches and Crocheting Geometry, in Computer-Aided Architectural Design: Future Trajectories (eds: Cagdas G., Ozkar M., Gul L., Gurer E.). Singapore: Springer, pp. 289-305.
• Gürsoy, B., Jowers, I., Özkar, M. (2015). Formal Descriptions of Material Manipulations: An Exploration with Cuts and Shadows, in The Next City: New Technologies and the Future of the Built Environment (eds: Celani G., Sperling D.M., Franco J.M.S.). Berlin: Springer, pp. 439-457.

• Gürsoy, B. (2019). Model-Idea-Model: From Abstraction of Context to Systematic Organization of Space, in Proceedings of the 35th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student (NCBDS), pp. 437-442.
• Ghazvinian, A., Farrokhsiar, P., Vieira, F., Pecchia, J., Gürsoy, B., (2019). Mycelium-Based Bio-Composites For Architecture: Assessing the Effects of Cultivation Factors on Compressive Strength, in Architecture in the Age of the 4th Industrial Revolution: Proceedings of the 37th eCAADe and 23rd SIGraDI Conference, pp. 505-514.
• Vazquez, E., Gürsoy, B., Duarte, J. (2019). Designing For Shape-Change: A Case study on 3D Printing Composite Materials for Responsive Architectures, in Intelligent and Informed: Proceedings of the 24th CAADRIA Conference, Vol.2, pp. 391-400.
• Gürsoy, B. (2018). From Control to Uncertainty in 3D Printing with Clay, in Computing for a Better Tomorrow: Proceedings of the 36th eCAADe Conference, Vol.2, pp. 21-30.
• Gürsoy, B., Özkar, M. (2018). Material Shapes and How to Compute with Them, in Conference Book of Nexus 2018: Relationship Between Architecture and Mathematics, pp. 263-268.
• Gürsoy, B. (2018). Learning to Compute in Design by Making Geometry in Proceedings of the 34th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student (NCBDS), Vol.34, No.1.
• Vazquez, E., Diarte, J., Gürsoy, B. (2018). Bridging Parametric Design and Craftsmanship: Materializing the Digital Parametric Brick Wall with Low-tech Construction Techniques, in Learning, Prototyping and Adapting: Short paper Proceedings of the 23^rd International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA 2018), pp. 3-8.
• Gürsoy, B. (2016). Why is Making Important for the Culture of Design?, in Living Systems and Micro-Utopias: Towards Continuous Designing 21^st International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA 2016), pp. 851-861.
• Gürsoy, B. (2012). The Hands-on Basics of Contemporary Design Education, eCAADe 30 Conference Proceedings, Vol.2., pp. 59-99.
• Gürsoy, B., Özkar, M. (2010). Is Model-Making Sketching in Design?, DRS 2010 Conference Proceedings, Montreal.

• Stuckeman Robots, October 26, November 9, December 18, 2019 The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA – USA
• Structural Weaving – Design Computing Summer School, June 25-27, 2018 Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon – Portugal
• Robotic Mediations – AA Istanbul Visiting School, June 28-July 07, 2017 Istanbul Bilgi University + Architectural Association, Istanbul – Turkey
• Parabrick, May 16-20, 2017 Universidad Nacional de Asuncion, Asuncion – Paraguay
• Light It Up!, January 19-22, 2017 The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA – USA
• Tectonic Symbiosis – AA Istanbul Visiting School, June 13-22, 2016 Istanbul Bilgi University + Architectural Association, Istanbul – Turkey
• Cellular Revisions – AA Istanbul Visiting School, June 15-24, 2015 Istanbul Bilgi University + Architectural Association, Istanbul – Turkey
• Electroknit – Design and Process Workshops, November 5-6, 2014 Istanbul Bilgi University + Design Foundation, Istanbul – Turkey
• Knitting, Cutting, and Material Computing, September 17-19, 2014 Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul – Turkey
• Inertia – Vernal Workshops 2014, April 19-23, 2014 Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul -– Turkey
• Ilhan Koman ∞-1, October 26-27, 2014 Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul – Turkey
• Cut & Fold, November 20-22, 2013 Izmir Yasar University, Izmir – Turkey
• Scripting Ilhan Koman – Muses of Art and Science, September 27-29, 2012 Izmir University of Economics, Izmir – Turkey
• Wisdom Book – Vernal Workshops 2012, April 4-8, 2012 Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul – Turkey

• Charette Journal, Reviewer. (2020)
• Journal of Architectural Engineering, Reviewer. (2019)
• Nexus Network Journal, Reviewer. (2018)

• Siggraph, Reviewer. (2019)
• Computer-Aided Architectural Design: Hello Culture, Reviewer. (2019)
• National Conference on the Beginning Design Student, Reviewer. (2019)
• Ph.D. Symposium: Divergence in Architectural Research, Reviewer. (2019)
• Architecture Media Politics Society - Mediated City Conference, Reviewer. (2018)
• Computer-Aided Architectural Design: Future Trajectories, Reviewer. (2017)

Adaptive 3D concrete printing work earns Stuckeman collaborative research grant

Penn State-led sustainable building materials research showcased in exhibition

Graduate student recognized for exploring sustainable building alternatives