Jefferson Ellinger

Jefferson Ellinger is an Architect and Associate Professor at UNC Charlotte in the School of Architecture and Director of the Design Computation Program. He is also an affiliate faculty member in the School of Data Science at UNC Charlotte. Practicing as an architect he has built several projects throughout North America and won several international competitions, including being a MoMA Young Architects finalist. His work has been featured in multiple international publications, exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and was the subject of his TED Talk. He authored the book Philosophical Difference and Advanced Computation in Architectural Theory: From Less to More, published by Routledge. He is additionally a partner in FABS (Fresh Air Building Systems) dedicated to designing and producing next generation air filtering systems for the built environment. He holds a Master of Architecture from Columbia University in New York City and a B.S. in Architecture from the Ohio State University.

EXPLORE HIS RECENT WORK

Vertical Harvest of Jackson Hole is a first vertical farm designed by Professor Ellinger’s architecture practice, Ellinger/Yehia Design LLC. Opened in 2017, the vertical farm shown here a new typology for a multistory vertical farm and is the first built in North America and has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects with a Citation Award.

Ellinger’s book “Philosophical Difference and Advanced Computation in Architectural Theory – From  Less to More” (2021) presents a new take on the evolution of digital design theories in architecture from modernity to today, as they have been inspired both by contemporary philosophy and the emergence and access to advanced computation.

With his partners at Fresh Air Building Systems, Ellinger installed the first active modular phytoremediation system (AMPS)—basically, a “probiotic” plant wall connected to the HVAC system—in the Bronx. The result is cleaner air and less energy use.