Technology and Material Innovations
Research + Design
From AI and remote sensing tools to 3D printing and mass timber, technological innovations are changing the ways we analyze, design, and craft the built environment. Our college is at the forefront of leveraging these new materials and technologies to confront the climate crisis and inequities in our built environment.
Dec 4, 2024
Heterogeneous Constructions: Aaron Forrest, Yasmin Vobis, and Brett Schneider talk about their new book with Neyran Turan
On the occasion of the publication of Heterogeneous Constructions: Studies in Mixed Material Architecture, Associate Professor of Architecture Neyran Turan spoke with the authors, Aaron Forrest, associate adjunct professor of architecture; Yasmin Vobis, assistant professor of architecture; and Brett Schneider, associate professor of architecture at Rice University.
Oct 25, 2024
Computational design can lead to more sustainable architecture, new research shows
Newly published research from Ramon Weber demonstrates that spatially efficient floor plans, produced through computational design, result in sustainable high-performance buildings.
Oct 23, 2024
Timber Education Prize awarded to MAAD curriculum
The Softwood Lumber Board and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture have named a new studio for Berkeley’s Master of Advanced Architecture Design program as a winner of its 2024 Timber Education Prize.
Sep 13, 2024
Neyran Turan’s NEMESTUDIO honored with AR Design Vanguard Award
Architectural Record honored Associate Professor Neyran Turan’s office, NEMESTUDIO, with a Design Vanguard 2024 award. Turan, who joined the Department of Architecture faculty in 2016, is currently serving as chair of its MArch program.
Aug 30, 2024
Ajay Manthripragada and Ramon Weber join Department of Architecture
The Department of Architecture is pleased to announce two new faculty appointments: Ajay Manthripragada as assistant professor in design and Ramon Elias Weber as assistant professor specializing in building technologies.
Aug 28, 2024
BART exhibition documents multiple architects, highlights system design
Along the Line: Designing and Planning BART, 1963–1976, an exhibition on view in the Environmental Design Library until October 31, traces the birth of the BART system.
Jul 15, 2024
Maria Paz Gutierrez awarded NSF grant for greywater reuse project
Maria Paz Gutierrez, associate professor of architecture, receives National Science Foundation grant for household greywater reuse project. Gutierrez is working with professor of architecture, Luisa Caldas, and UC Merced.
May 20, 2024
Terner Center creates new tool to study housing affordability in California
Terner Center study creates interactive map on housing affordability in California, asking an essential question: How affordable is California to the people who would live there if they could?
May 17, 2024
Ron Rael talks to Arch Daily about the future of architecture
In an interview published in Arch Daily, Ron Rael shares his views on the potential of AI, material culture, the role of the architect in society, architectural education, sustainability, and more.
Mar 28, 2024
First prototype of lecturer Dan Spiegel’s standardized Core House system built in Hawaii
Architectural Record features the Kauhikoa Core House by Spiegel Aihara Workshop, the first built prototype of a low-cost, compact, easily shippable, prefabricated house that can be deployed for rapid rebuilding after disasters like the 2023 Maui fires.
Mar 22, 2024
Maria Paz Gutierrez receives Berkeley’s 2024 Bakar Prize
Gutierrez is first CED faculty member to be awarded the prize, which is designed help campus innovators translate their discoveries into real-world solutions.
Mar 20, 2024
New research on climate resilience, environmental justice to be presented at CED
An exhibition and lecture reveal innovative research into climate solutions by CED faculty.
Feb 13, 2024
Architecture welcomes Philip Tidwell, expert in wood construction, to faculty
The founding principal of Peripheral Projects, Tidwell joins the department at a pivotal moment, when explorations into new materials and methods, and the capabilities of wood in particular, are deepening.
Feb 13, 2024
Lu Liang, who uses data to analyze environmental change, joins LAEP faculty
Geospatial scientist Lu Liang uses GIS and UAV to explore how environmental conditions, such as air pollution, impact the daily lives of individuals.
Nov 15, 2023
Newly renovated controlled environment chamber expands research possibilities
The Berkeley facility is now one of the most advanced test chambers of its type and new studies are already underway.
Sep 27, 2023
Inaugural Lau Grants for Just Climate Futures awarded
This new grant program supports cross-disciplinary projects led by CED faculty that aim to reduce the impacts of climate change. This year's funded projects forge innovations in climate resilience through explorations in building technologies and materials, housing security, water access, and community-based climate visualizations. These projects stood out from the field of applications for their impact on underserved communities and their capacity to have actionable environmental outcomes.
Sep 18, 2023
Terner Labs, HUD team up to host events on affordable housing
On September 25, Terner Labs hosts the inaugural symposium, The Search for Affordable Rental Housing, a deep dive into how technology is helping and hurting individuals who are seeking affordable rental housing.
Aug 25, 2023
Liz Gálvez joins the Department of Architecture
The prize–winning architect and founding principal of Office e.g. is focused on developing new environmentalisms in architecture.
May 4, 2023
Ronald Rael’s COVID-safe cohabitation design wins social and environmental justice award
CED professor Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello, of Emerging Objects, receive the 2023 Jeff Harnar Social & Environmental Justice award for their project Casa Covid, which combines 3D printing with Indigenous building methods and materials.