Nefeli Manoudaki is an architect-engineer, computational designer, and Ph.D. researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the Media Arts and Technology (MAT) program, where she is a member of the transLAB under Professor Marcos Novak. She is also a Co-Founder of Metaesthetica, a research-driven design collective operating at the convergence of computer science, media architecture, composition, and engineering. Previously, she served as a researcher at the TUC TIE Lab in Greece, where she contributed to large-scale, nationally recognized projects.
Her work sits at the convergence of nature, human sensory experience, and design, leveraging emerging technologies to craft immersive environments and interactive installations. Nefeli's practice operationalizes complex datasets, transforming them into large-scale immersive environments and generative ecosystems. Her research spans artificial intelligence, immersive environments, and biological architectural forms in both tangible and digital realms (including VR, AR, XR, and AI/ML). By drawing on morphological and cognitive principles, Nefeli aims to create transformative experiences that reconnect users with traces of the natural world. Recent works emphasize digital morphogenesis through emotions within XR, olfactory stimuli, and interrogating the boundaries between biological intelligence and artificial systems.
Her projects have been showcased at prestigious international events and venues such as Ars Electronica, ISEA, ACM SIGGRAPH, MIT Reality Hack, the AI Art Biennale, and CURRENTS NEW MEDIA. Notably, her collaborative work Quantum Global Organoid Orchestra [q.GOO] was recently awarded an exclusive "Golden Ticket" by AI Art Magazine, selected out of nearly 400 global submissions. She also serves as Co-Artistic Director and Lead for Urban Projection Mappings for Brave New Work, a new conference featuring works by internationally recognized media artists in public spaces.