Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture

Name

Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture

Legal name

Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture

Website

https://acadia.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ACADIA is a nonprofit professional association founded in 1981 that advances computational design in architecture through an annual conference, the peer-reviewed IJAC journal, and a multi-decade research archive. It serves faculty, practitioners, and graduate students across an international network of architecture schools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architecture Research and Education Association

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Architectural Services (541310)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Association & Society Conference Management (Nonprofit, Professional Bodies) (THAHACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Academic & Education Conference Organizers (THAHACAE)

Keywords

• Computational design research
• Architectural computing education
• Digital fabrication conference
• Peer-reviewed architecture journal
• Caad professional association

Headquarters

HQ city

Fargo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: ACADIA operates as a membership-based professional organization with annual membership that provides access to conferences, publications, and member services.
2. Conference Registration: Conference registration fees generate revenue. Attendance at in-person conferences ranges 280-320 participants. At least one author per submission must register at full price for papers/projects to be included in proceedings.
3. Workshop Fees: Pre-conference workshops are offered with registration. Most workshops attract 12-15 participants each. Workshop leaders receive funding and one full conference ticket is covered.
4. Publication Revenue: ACADIA publishes conference proceedings with papers assigned DOI. Published papers are included in CumInCad database and indexed through Web of Science Platform and Scopus.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ACADIA is a nonprofit professional association that organizes an annual North American conference on computational design in architecture, supports the peer-reviewed International Journal of Architectural Computing (IJAC), and maintains a research archive of proceedings dating to 1985. The organization provides pre-conference workshops (6-14 per year), PhD CAAD workshops for doctoral candidates, and conference organization services including peer review coordination and proceedings publication for academic researchers, design professionals, and graduate students.

Product overview

ACADIA (Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture) operates as a professional organization and conference host rather than a software product company. The organization provides a platform of services centered around its annual conference, academic journal (IJAC), and research archive. The core offering consists of the annual North American computational design conference (rotating host institutions), the peer-reviewed International Journal of Architectural Computing (IJAC), and a digital archive of proceedings spanning four decades. Supporting services include Ph.D. workshops, pre-conference technical workshops (with up to $2,000 funding per workshop), and conference organization infrastructure using EasyChair for submissions, Eventbrite for registration, and Scholastica for peer review.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• International Journal of Architectural Computing (IJAC): Academic journal published by ACADIA covering computational design research in architecture.

Products and services

• ACADIA Annual Conference The annual North American conference on computational design in architecture, hosting workshops, paper presentations, project exhibitions, and field notes across 3-5 days at rotating host institutions. Attracts 280-320 in-person participants and over 1,000 for online/hybrid events.
• International Journal of Architectural Computing (IJAC) Peer-reviewed academic journal publishing research on architectural computing, digital design, and computational methods in architecture. Published by Routledge with editorial board elected by ACADIA members.
• ACADIA Archive Digital repository of conference proceedings, research papers, projects, and field notes from ACADIA conferences spanning 1985-present. Includes papers indexed in CumInCad, Web of Science, and Scopus.
• Pre-Conference Workshops Pre-conference workshops (6-14 per year) offering hands-on training in computational design, digital fabrication, robotics, and AI-assisted design tools. Includes funding of up to $2,000 per workshop for travel, materials, and supplies. Each workshop attracts 12-15 participants.
• Ph.D. CAAD Workshop One-day seminar session for doctoral candidates in computational design and Computer Aided Architectural Design to present work-in-progress to peers and receive feedback from leading CAAD researchers.
• Conference Organization Services End-to-end conference hosting services including peer review coordination (via EasyChair/Scholastica), registration management (via Eventbrite), proceedings publication with DOI assignment, and awards programs.
• ACADIA Membership Annual membership providing access to conferences, publications, member services, and voting rights in board elections and IJAC Editorial Board selections.

Quantifiable outcome

• 28% acceptance rate for Full Papers with ~200 submissions annually
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability8 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and major.

• Lawrence Technological University College of Architecture and Design (LTU CoAD)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 October 2026Lawrence Technological University College of Architecture and Design is hosting the ACADIA 2026 conference 'HUMANISM RECODED: Reframing Computation and Making through Embodiment and Culture' in Detroit, Michigan. Workshops: Oct 19-21, Conference Oct 22-24, 2026. LTU provides workshop facilities including buildLab with 2600 sq ft shop space, 250 sq ft spray room, 630 sq ft casting room, and digital fabrication equipment including KUKA robots, CNC routers, and 3D printers.
• Arkitektskolen AarhusminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 August 2026Arkitektskolen Aarhus (Aarhus School of Architecture) is hosting ROB|ARCH 2026 conference 'Detangling Dependencies' in collaboration with Aarhus University, Aalborg University, and Royal Danish Academy. ROB|ARCH is the international conference on Robotic Fabrication in Architecture, Art and Design.
• NOMA (National Organization of Minority Architects)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 June 2026ACADIA partnered with NOMA to deliver a specially organized workshop 'Introduction to Computational Design' for NOMA Student Chapters participating in the 2026 NOMA Barbara G. Laurie Design Student Competition. Workshop was free for NOMAS students. ACADIA Board Members Myles Sampson and Jacob Gasper led the workshop. ACADIA also awards a Computational Design Merit Award for competition entries incorporating computational approaches.
• ETH Zurich (NCCR Digital Fabrication and Design++)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 May 2026ETH Zurich hosts the 'Future of Construction 2026' Symposium through NCCR Digital Fabrication and Design++ Center for Augmented Computational Design in Architecture, Engineering and Construction. ACADIA shares job postings and calls for PhD students from ETH Zurich through its communications channels.
• CAADRIA (Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 April 2026CAADRIA is a sister organization to ACADIA focused on computational design research in the Australasian region. The Sasada Prize is jointly recognized by both organizations, established in honor of CAADRIA co-founder Prof. Tsuyoshi Sasada. CAADRIA publishes through the same academic ecosystem.
• International Journal of Architectural Computing (IJAC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 February 2026IJAC is the affiliated academic journal of ACADIA, published by Routledge. The journal has an elected editorial board including Dana Cupkova (Carnegie Mellon), Armin Mostafavi (Cornell), Karla Saldana Ochoa (University of Florida), and Jane Scott (Newcastle University). ACADIA elects IJAC Editorial Board members annually.
• Florida International University (FIU)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 November 2025Florida International University co-hosted the ACADIA 2025 Conference 'COMPUTING for RESILIENCE: Expanding Community Knowledge and Impact' in Miami alongside the University of Miami. FIU hosted the conference November 3-8, 2025.
• University of MiamicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 November 2025University of Miami co-hosted the ACADIA 2025 Conference alongside Florida International University. Melissa Goldman is affiliated with University of Miami and served as conference coordinator. Maxwell Jarosz is Director of Fabrication at University of Miami.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Autodesk: Industry software incumbent and ACADIA partner (co-sponsor of the ACADIA Autodesk Emerging Research Award), supplying the dominant tools (AutoCAD, Revit) used by ACADIA's research community and engaging ACADIA as a research-marketing channel.
• McNeel (Rhino3D): Vendor of Rhino and Grasshopper, the computational design tools most associated with ACADIA community practice; enables and is enabled by the same research workflows, including ACADIA workshops and NOMA outreach.

Broad incumbents

• RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects): Major UK/global professional and learned society for architecture; comparable to ACADIA in running member-driven research and awards programs, but with a far broader practitioner and policy remit.
• AIA (American Institute of Architects): Largest US professional association for architects with far broader scope than ACADIA; comparable in being membership-driven and conference-publishing, but ACADIA is more specialized and academic, while AIA covers practice, policy, and continuing education broadly.
• UIA (International Union of Architects): Global professional federation of architectural organizations, far broader than ACADIA in scope but relevant as the international umbrella under which specialized research associations like ACADIA, CAADRIA, and eCAADe are positioned.

Direct peers

• eCAADe (Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe): European counterpart association for CAAD research and education, running parallel annual conferences, peer-reviewed publications, and doctoral workshops that compete with ACADIA for international academic participation.
• CAADRIA (Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia): Regional sister organization focused on computational design research in Asia/Australasia, jointly recognizing the Sasada Prize with ACADIA and serving overlapping faculty, researchers, and graduate students through its own annual conference.
• SIGraDi (Sociedad Iberoamericana de Gráfica Digital): Iberoamerican association for digital graphics and computational design research, organizing annual congresses that attract a similar Latin American and European architecture faculty/researcher audience.
• ASCAAD (Arab Society for Computer Aided Architectural Design): Regional association for CAAD research across the Arab world; runs comparable annual conferences, peer-reviewed proceedings, and student workshops serving a parallel academic community.

Emerging players

• ROB|ARCH (Robotic Fabrication in Architecture, Art and Design): Biennial conference series on robotic fabrication in architecture, co-organized with Arkitektskolen Aarhus for 2026; overlapping faculty and practitioner audience with ACADIA's fabrication/robotics tracks.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ACADIAconference
• Instagraminstagram.com/acadiaorg
• Xx.com/acadiaorg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/association-for-computer-aided-design-in-architecture

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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