Architect, author and educator Aybars Aşçı is an advocate of research-driven design, with a focus on designing learning environments. His projects range from planning large-scale campuses to designing play structures. As a practicing architect he has over 25 years of experience, working in New York and London, on projects located in North America, South America, Middle East, and Asia. Aşçı’s book “Designing for Empathy: The Architecture of Connections in Learning Environments” is published in Fall 2024. As an educator, he has taught seminars and design studios at the City College of New York, Cornell University, Pratt Institute, and Northeastern University. As an inventor, he holds a U.S. patent for a high performance enclosure system (Patent #9003727; approved 4-14-2015). Aşçı is the president and founder of Efficiency Lab for Architecture, a design practice based in New York. He holds a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University.