Student Spotlight: Ipsita Datta on the Journey from Practice to PhD
Doctoral researcher Ipsita Datta is exploring how living materials, specifically fungal networks, might reshape the future of construction. As a PhD candidate in the Constructed Environment program at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, her research investigates how mycelium-based building materials can be combined with soil and construction waste and fabricated using robotic additive manufacturing to create regenerative architectural systems.
Her interest in these material systems is rooted in a longer exploration of sustainable construction methods that began during her architectural education and early professional work in India. Growing up there, Datta was drawn equally to the arts and the sciences. She pursued dance professionally and excelled in mathematics and science. Architecture entered the picture somewhat unexpectedly after she placed ninth in the state on an architecture entrance exam during high school.
“That’s why architecture fell into my lap,” she recalls.
Datta went on to study architecture at the L.S. Raheja School of Architecture at the University of Mumbai, where her early interests in sustainability and material systems began to take shape. After graduating, she worked in professional practice and sustainable development offices that focused on alternative materials such as earth, stone, and bamboo rather than conventional concrete construction.
“Soil is everywhere. It’s a very honest and simple material, but you can do such complex things with it.”
Curious about how emerging technologies might expand these material explorations, Datta pursued graduate study at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) in Barcelona. There she completed a master’s degree in advanced architecture and a postgraduate diploma in 3D printing, studying digital fabrication techniques for materials such as clay and earth. The experience fundamentally shaped her research trajectory. “I wanted to learn how digital technology could be applied to the material explorations I had already been doing,” she explains.
After completing her graduate studies, Datta returned to Mumbai and began teaching architecture, partly inspired by watching her mother teach high school students. The classroom quickly became another catalyst for research. “One main thing about teaching,” she says, “is that it’s not just me giving knowledge to the students in front of me. I’m also learning from them. The questioning that happens in the classroom inspires research—that’s how the loop keeps happening.”
Recognizing that she wanted to pursue research more rigorously and encouraged in part by watching her father complete a PhD in chemical engineering, Datta decided to pursue doctoral study. She joined UVA’s PhD in the Constructed Environment program where she works closely with Assistant Professor Ehsan Baharlou, director of the Computational Tectonics Lab.
“I’ll be honest,” she says. “I followed Ehsan to this PhD program and not the other way around. When I saw he was working with earth, I immediately wanted to apply.”
Her research investigates how mycelium-based living building materials can be combined with construction and agricultural waste and fabricated using robotic additive manufacturing to create biologically active architectural systems. By studying how fungal networks interact with soil and other substrates, Datta explores new possibilities for regenerative construction and material systems that grow rather than simply assemble.
At the School of Architecture, she credits both faculty mentorship and institutional support with shaping her work. Baharlou has guided her research development while encouraging her to publish and present at international conferences, while funding from the PhD in the Constructed Environment program has enabled her to share her work with broader academic audiences.
The program has also deepened her understanding of how architectural research is conducted and communicated.
“When I came to UVA,” she says, “I learned discipline-specific ways of researching and publishing in our field.”
Even as she works at the intersection of biology, materials science, and robotics, Datta’s approach to teaching and research remains grounded in a tactile understanding of architecture.
Datta has taught students to experiment with digital software and tools such as Rhino, Grasshopper, and 3D printing, but she emphasizes the importance of hand drawing and hands-on engagement with materials. “You don’t have to be the best at digital drawing or the best at hand drawing,” she says. “But you need to learn and feel. Architecture is about observing.”
“No digital technology will work unless you have a physical idea of what’s happening. You need to feel materials with your hands.”
For Datta, maintaining balance during the long and demanding process of doctoral research has also meant learning to build a life in a new country. Moving from Mumbai to Charlottesville required its own adjustment. “The first year was very challenging,” she says. “I wasn’t just moving into a new university—I was moving to a completely new country with a different set of rules while starting coursework at the same time.”
Over time, she found ways to create space beyond the structure of the program. One of those outlets has been painting; another has been through local Zumba classes. Datta has gradually built a community of friends across different departments and fields. She also finds inspiration in traveling when possible, to help reset her perspective.
“It’s good to have a social circle outside your PhD group, otherwise you’re just talking about your PhD all the time.”
Living in Charlottesville has also offered a welcome shift in pace from the large cities where she previously lived. “I was always a city girl—Mumbai, then Barcelona,” she says. “It took some time to transition, but now I really enjoy the slower life here. You can appreciate the greenery and the mountains. It’s calmer than running around in big cities.”
That slower rhythm reinforces Datta’s approach to architecture and research. For her, meaningful work unfolds through patience, observation, and process—something she believes is especially important for today’s students. “There is this tendency to want everything to be fast,” she says. “But architecture is about respecting process and understanding historical precedents while thinking about the future.”
By combining emerging fabrication technologies with biological materials and longstanding construction knowledge, Datta hopes to expand the possibilities for regenerative construction.
“Let me do my PhD, gain that knowledge, and share it with the world,” she says.
Postscript: Datta’s essay, “Mycelium Architectures for Circular and Living Construction,” was selected through a two-phase double-blind peer review process from nearly 800 submissions and will be included in the digital proceedings of the 2026 UIA World Congress of Architects this summer. Read more here.