Benjamin James graduated from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC and worked as a financial & strategy consultant in NYC and London prior to getting his Architecture Master’s degree from the University of Applied Arts Vienna (I oA, Studio Greg Lynn). As a practicing architect, he has lectured and exhibited works that focus on the intersection of architecture and new tech in notable museums and galleries around the world such as the AA in London, the A+D Museum in LA, and the Storefront for Art & Architecture in NYC.

He is co-founder of iheartblob an award-winning mixed reality design studio and research collective with a strong focus on the Architectural Object and the role of emerging technologies within architecture. His work is meant to both enchant and reflect on the crisis of thought which runs through architecture today by investigating new and established ideas as though they were materials, engaging seriously with hard-hitting agendas, whilst remaining at a distance from full immersion.

Currently he is a researcher at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and founder of mlxar - a machine learning generative architecture platform that powers virtual world creation and user generated content in video games and web3 platforms.