EPIPHYTE Lab

EPIPHYTE Lab is a design and research practice centered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2009 by Dana Cupkova and Kevin Pratt, professors at Carnegie Mellon and Cornell Universities respectively EPIPHYTE Lab produces built work, engages in speculative design projects, and serves as a vessel for interdisciplinary design-research that is tightly coupled with academic framework. Always striving for innovation, EPIPHYTE Lab engages the built environment at the intersection of ecology, thermodynamics, computationally driven processes, and material logic.

EP·I·PHYTE /ˈepəˌfīt/
mid 19th century English epi- ‘IN ADDITION TO’ + Greek phuton ‘PLANT’.

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EPIPHYTE is a plant that grows on another plant but is not parasitic, using its niche for physical support only, but not obtaining nutrients from it. It is a self contained object with a boundary condition related to its ecological framework. An epiphyte is an eco-machine. It feeds off of surplus resources to create localized embedded micro-ecologies. EPIPHYTE Lab engages architecture in its environment as it relates to its resources and energy flows.

DANA CUPKOVA is a founding partner and design principal of EPIPHYTE Lab. She is a Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Architecture, where she serves as the graduate Track Chair for the Master of Science in Regenerative & Sustainable Design program. Dana’s design work is driven by a holistic vision of the built environment, centered on the relationship between ecology and technology and the capacity of architecture to foster ecological vibrancy. Her work seeks attunement with natural processes in pursuit of an aesthetic of ecological intimacy. By integrating evidence-based methods with creative design solutions, her design approach emphasizes the cross-scalar interconnectedness of architecture and landscape through regenerative forms and processes. Previously, Dana founded and directed the architectural practice DCm-STUDIO (2001–09) in New York City and held a visiting assistant professorship at Cornell University (2005–12). She currently serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Architectural Computing (IJAC), and is the recipient of the 2019 ACADIA Teaching Award of Excellence, the 2022 ACSA Creative Achievement Award, and a 2022–23 Fulbright U.S. Scholar award.

KEVIN PRATT (d. 2013) was a founding partner and principal of EPIPHYTE Lab. In 2007, he was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at Cornell University, where he conducted research and taught at the intersection of building technology and sustainable form. He frequently co-taught design research studios with Dana Cupkova, focusing on the development of adaptive component assembly strategies using parametric CAD and environmental simulation workflows. Kevin received his Bachelor of Arts in Architecture (magna cum laude) from Columbia University and a Master’s degree from the Environment & Energy Programme at the Architectural Association in London. He was a registered architect in the state of New York and a LEED v2 Accredited Professional, with over 25 years of experience as an academic, researcher, and architect. From 2004 to 2007, Kevin served as Director of Research at Kieran Timberlake Associates in Philadelphia. His work there included daylighting, shading, and thermal simulation analysis for the LEED Platinum Sidwell Friends Middle School; design and detailing of the solar thermal façade at the new Sculpture Building at Yale University; and the sustainable design development strategies and technologies for the Institute for Energy, Environment and Ecology at the University of Calgary. Kevin also led research into prefabricated housing in collaboration with Living Homes and investigated the use of sustainable prefabrication technology for commercial space development. Before relocating to London in 2002, he spent five years at the New York-based design and façade consulting firm Evans Heintges Architects. Kevin was also a contributing writer to ARTFORUM, and published articles in TimeOut New York, Artbyte, and Art on Paper, among others. At Cornell, Kevin led a multidisciplinary research group linking the departments of Computer Science, Architecture, and Mechanical Engineering. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the group developed new methods for building simulation and parametric energy analysis. He was a fellow at the Atkinson Center for a Sustainability, which provided seed funding for his collaborative research on an Integrated Digital Design Environment for Sustainable Architecture. Kevin passed away unexpectedly on February 19, 2013.

EPIPHYTE Lab has been founded on the premise that innovative architecture occurs at disciplinary boundaries, where design, insight, research and the built environment bleed across traditional didactic precincts. Our work is grounded in four fundamental principles:

Architecture must be understood as continuous material process.
If we interrogate the world with care it will answer us in kind.
Resources are finite and precious.
Singular authorship is a dubious concept.

Practically, this means: We are interested in making things that reflect upon relevant cultural, ecological and material frameworks. We believe that ideas mutate when they meet an environment, real or virtual, and are best refined through iterative loops of making, computational analysis, simulation, evolutionary algorithms, prototypes and full scale construction. We understand that anytime we make something, we become consumers, but we suspect that environments that are tightly bound to specific ecologies of mind and matter have a better chance of being effective, efficient, and beautiful. We realize that the work we do, collectively, is more than the sum of our individual efforts, consequently we look to create open systems that can exist and evolve happily, beyond our ability of control.

EPIPHYTE Lab offers a full range of architectural design services. CONTACT US with any questions or inquiries. We are an architectural design and research collaborative, continuously striving to build networks and engage new forms of collective knowledge.

CURRENT MEMBERS | Migel Shehu | Nirmal Kumarasamy | Eddy Taehyun Lim |