Malcolm McCullough

Malcolm McCullough is a Professor of Architecture at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, specializing in Architecture and Design. He has been on the Michigan faculty since 2001, initially as Associate Professor of Architecture from 2001 to 2013, with a concurrent part-time appointment as Associate Professor of Art and Design from 2001 to 2005. Prior to Michigan, McCullough served as T. David Fitzgibbon Visiting Professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Architecture from 1998 to 2000, Associate Professor of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design from 1992 to 1998, Assistant Professor there from 1989 to 1992, and Assistant Professor and Director of the Advanced CAD Lab at the University of Texas at Austin from 1987 to 1988. He holds an M.Arch. from the University of California, Los Angeles (1985), where he received the Dean’s award as the highest student honor, and a B.A. with honors from Yale University (1979), with a double concentration in engineering and architecture.

McCullough’s research focuses on digital design, data visualization for the augmented city, ambient information, digital craft, and the cultural role of urban infrastructure, including local resilience on microgrids. He is the author of several influential books: Downtime on the Microgrid—Architecture, Electricity, and Smart City Islands (MIT Press, 2020); Ambient Commons—Attention in the Age of Embodied Information (MIT Press, 2013); Digital Ground—Architecture, Pervasive Computing, and Environmental Knowing (MIT Press, 2004); Abstracting Craft—The Practiced Digital Hand (MIT Press, 1996); and Digital Design Media, co-authored with William Mitchell (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1991; second edition, 1994). He also co-edited The Electronic Design Studio—Architectural Knowledge in the Computer Era (1990). His publications appear in journals and include pieces such as “Urban Information Environmentalism” (2022), “Seeking Effortless Attention” (2019), and “On Attention to Surroundings” (2012). McCullough has earned the American Institute of Architects International Book Award (1993) for Digital Design Media, a Chrysler Design Award nomination (2002), and the AIA Student Gold Medal (1985). He has delivered keynotes worldwide, including “Walking, The City, and Ambient Literature” at the Ambient Literature conference (2017) and “Notes on the Augmented City” at UC Berkeley (2013). At Michigan, he has chaired the Promotion and Tenure Committee multiple times and served on executive and search committees. His writings are widely used in design education across more than 15 countries.

Professional Email: mmmc@umich.edu