Douglas Hecker
Associate Professor of Architecture
Contact
School of Architecture
Office: Lee 2-309
Email: dhecker@clemson.edu
Education
M.Arch., Columbia University; B.D. in Architecture, University of Florida
Douglas Hecker is a co-founder of Fieldoffice along with Martha Skinner. Fieldoffice is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary design studio whose design work ranges from toys, affordable housing products, films to highway barriers. Fieldoffice works from the notion that the field of design combines visionary ideas with real world problems. Fieldoffice undertakes design issues that address pressing environmental and social problems facing humanity that are often overlooked by conventional specialized design practices. The work of fieldoffice has been published in a diverse array of publications such as Business Week, Discover Magazine, Architectural Record, and ID magazine and has been honored by inclusion in the 10th Venice Biennale of Architecture and the awarding of a Next Generation Award from Metropolis Magazine in 2007.
Hecker received his Bachelor of Architecture in Design from the University of Florida and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University where he was the recipient of the William F. Kinne Fellowship. In his role as a professor Hecker focuses on mentoring a new generation of design activists that see in the contemporary world a multitude of opportunities for change. His research focuses on the role of advanced technologies (CAD/CAM, digital fabrication) in design in order to empower individuals and communities by inventing "systems" that provide greater access to design through a combination of advanced technology and activism. Hecker founded cusa.dds (a digital fabrication shop at the Clemson School of Architecture) and ddbNOLA (digital design build New Orleans) to pursue this aim. Hecker has taught previously at the University of Michigan where he was a Visiting Assistant Professor. Prior to teaching, he worked at Handel Architects in New York City as an Associate Designer.
