Research Team

About

Jonathan Dortheimer is an architect, educator, researcher, and founder of the Architectural Artificial Intelligence Research Lab at Ariel University. His work examines how artificial intelligence, computational methods, and participatory technologies can support architectural design, urban planning, and more transparent decision-making.

Jonathan is a senior lecturer at the Ariel University School of Architecture and a guest scholar at the Chair of Architectural Informatics, Technical University of Munich in Germany.

He completed his doctoral studies in 2021 at Tel Aviv University under the supervision of Prof. Eran Neuman and Prof. Tova Milo. He later worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Material Topology Research Lab at the Technion, in collaboration with the Future Automation Lab at Cornell Tech, under the supervision of Prof. Aaron Sprecher and Prof. Wendy Ju.

Jonathan’s research develops and evaluates computational tools for participatory design, urban AI, and urban digital twins. Across these areas, his work asks how AI can meaningfully support architectural and planning practice without displacing professional responsibility, public deliberation, or local knowledge.

Alongside his academic work, Jonathan has founded several technology initiatives and co-founded Meirim, a platform promoting democratic participation in urban planning in Israel.

Projects

Chatbots for Design This project develops and evaluates conversational AI systems for public participation in architectural design and urban planning.

METROPOLIS: Urban Digital Twin An open, interoperable urban digital twin framework for integrating city data, deploying urban AI models, and supporting evidence-based planning.

Urban Social Prediction This project develops and validates machine-learning models for anticipating the social and economic consequences of urban renewal, and translates these models into interpretable planning tools.

Synthetic Humans This project investigates whether AI models can approximate selected dimensions of human spatial experience to provide early-stage design feedback — and rigorously identifies where they cannot.

Education

• Ph.D. Tel Aviv University 2017 – 2021
• M.A. Tel Aviv University 2013 – 2017
• B. Arch. Tel Aviv University 2002 – 2008

Employment

• Postdoctoral fellow Technion Israel Institute of Technology Feb 2021 – Sep 2022
• Adjunct Teacher Technion Israel Institute of Technology 2019-09 – Oct 2021
• The School of Architecture Ariel University – Present