Abstract

“By 2050, 70% of the world population will live in cities. Today already 50% lives in an urban environment and produces more than 75% of all C02 emissions. Finding intelligent and efficient ways to provide more people with fewer resources will make cities more resilient to manmade and natural disasters and reduce their impact on the environment. My long-term research goal is to transform the engineering design framework for a future-oriented built urban environment. My research program addresses the following core questions:1. What is the relationship between form and efficiency in form passive structures?; 2. With increasing pressure on the preservation of natural resources, how can design theories and tools match untested sculptural ideas to material-efficient, constructible complex curved surfaces?; and 3. Since nature has had 4 billion years to evolve, how can designers of adaptive shells draw from its systems for innovation?”