Thomas Spiegelhalter

Last updated
Thomas Spiegelhalter
CitizenshipGerman-American
Occupation(s)Architect and urban designer
Academic
Academic background
Education Bachelor of Arts
Master of Arts
PhD
Alma mater Berlin University of the Arts
Università degli Studi di Genova
Website thomasspiegelhalter.com

Thomas Spiegelhalter is a German-American academic and architect. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Born in Germany, Spiegelhalter earned both his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from the Berlin University of the Arts [2] and he studied for PhD at the Università degli Studi di Genova.

Career

From 1990 to 1991, Spiegelhalter served as an assistant professor at the University of Kaiserslautern in Germany, specializing in architecture, engineering, and town planning. [3] Following this, in 1993, he became a Tenured Full C3-Professor at the University of Applied Science Leipzig, a position established by the Minister of the State Saxony's Ministry of Science and Culture. [3]

In 1999, Spiegelhalter became a US-German-DAAD Visiting professor at the University of Houston's G. Hines College of Architecture. [3] He later joined Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh as a visiting professor at the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics, Intelligent Workplace, a position he held from 2000 to 2003. [3]

In 2000, Spiegelhalter was awarded a Tenured University C3-Professor at the University of Hannover in Germany, a designation from the Minister of the State Low-Saxony's department of Science and Culture. [3]

From 2000 to 2002, Spiegelhalter was a guest professor at the Mundaneum, Universidad del Desino in San Jose, Costa Rica, focusing on sustainability and design, as well as sustainability and environmental systems. [3]

From 2003 to 2009, Spiegelhalter served as a professor at the University of Southern California. [3] [1]

Among Spiegelhalter's 54 awards, honours and mentions are the AIV-Schinkel-Preis in Berlin in 1985, and the 2003 Design Vanguard Award from Architectural Record, recognizing their innovative approaches to shaping the built environment globally. [3]

In 2006, Spiegelhalter took on the role of Cass Gilbert Visiting Professor for Innovations in Sustainable and Renewable Energy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. [3]

In 2009, Spiegelhalter joined Florida International University as a professor of architecture. [3]

In 2017, he received the European Union's Erasmus Plus Grant for research in sustainability design as a Visiting Professor at the Università degli Studi di Genova in Italy. [4] In the same year, Spiegelhalter co-established the Miami Dynamo-Rhynamo-BIM-360 group of the Intl. Autodesk User Groups (AUGI). Collaborating with universities internationally since 1990, Spiegelhalter has worked on various ecological engineering projects. [5]

He took part in the Italian Pavilion in 2021, and subsequently, in 2023, he exhibited at the European Cultural Center during the Venice Architecture Biennale in Italy, showcasing his "Generative AI-Synbio Carbon-Positive, Blue-Green Infrastructure Projects."

From April 2023 to April 2024, he was awarded the Global Visiting Professor Grant at the Research Center for Climate Change Adaptation, Faculty of Environmental Information Studies, ECOGIS Lab, while serving as a doctoral supervisor with Wanglin Yan at Keio University's Shonan Fujisawa Campus in Tokyo, Japan.

In April 2024, he was appointed to the Fulbright Specialist International Awardee Roster for Architecture, with a designation to work with an Italian university for the tenure period of 2024-2027.

Spiegelhalter currently holds a position at Florida International University (FIU) as a professor and the co-director of the Structures and Environmental Technologies Lab (SET). [6] He also teaches subjects related to sustainability, carbon-positive design and green-blue urban systems at FIU and Miami Beach Urban Studios (MBUS). [5]

Spiegelhalter is the founder of Thomas Spiegelhalter Studio + Associates and has been its head since 1990. [5]

Research work

Spiegelhalter's research work encompasses carbon-neutral designs, sustainable buildings, urban planning, and the rehabilitation of post-industrial environments, which includes engineered suspension and additive-manufactured, 3d printed bridges. [7]

His work has been published in "Contemporary European Architects, Volume V" and "Solar Architecture for Europe." Additionally, he has contributed many research papers monographs, journals and books, with titles like “Gravel Pit Architecture” (1990),  “Best Practices in Sustainable Building Design” (2013), "Post-Parametric Automation in Design and Construction" (2015) and "Analog to AI: Pioneering SynBio Nexus Design" (2024). [7]

Events

Spiegelhalter was a keynote speaker at the Institute for Architecture at TU Berlin at the 38th eCAADe Conference on September 16 and 17, 2020. He delivered "Disruptive AI Data-Driven, Carbon-Positive Bio-Inspired Optimization Design Workflows 2020-2100," highlighting innovative approaches to design optimisation.

In September 2023, he hosted a discussion at the College of Architecture at Florida International University on “AI in the Built Environment & Health” with Sir Prof. Dr. David Spiegelhalter. The event delved into the intersection of statistics, machine learning, and AI in architecture, design, and urban planning, offering attendees insights into future AI trends and impacts across disciplines.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida International University</span> Public university in University Park, Florida, US

Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in University Park, Florida. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florida and the eighth-largest public university in the United States by enrollment. FIU is a constituent part of the State University System of Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Milan</span> University in Milan, Italy

The University of Milan, officially shortened in UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale, is a public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Europe, with about 60,000 students, and a permanent teaching and research staff of about 2,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polytechnic University of Milan</span> Technical university in Milan, Italy

The Polytechnic University of Milan is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 42,000 students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in engineering, architecture and design. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest university in Milan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Malta</span> Public university in Malta

The University of Malta is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Association, the European Access Network, Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Utrecht Network, the Santander Network, the Compostela Group, the European Association for University Lifelong Learning (EUCEN) and the International Student Exchange Programme (ISEP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Trento</span> Public university in Trento, Italy

The University of Trento is an Italian university located in Trento and nearby Rovereto. It has been able to achieve considerable results in didactics, research, and international relations according to CENSIS and the Italian Ministry of Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enrique Norten</span> Mexican architect

Enrique Norten Rosenfeld, Hon. FAIA, is a Mexican architect and principal of the design firm TEN Arquitectos. Norten was born in Mexico City in 1954 where he graduated from the Universidad Iberoamericana with a degree in architecture in 1978. He obtained a Master of Architecture from Cornell University in 1980. In 1986, he founded TEN Arquitectos in Mexico City, initiating a lifelong commitment to architecture and design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Università Iuav di Venezia</span> Architecture school in Venice, Italy

Iuav University of Venice is a university in Venice, Italy. It was founded in 1926 as the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia as one of the first Architecture schools in Italy. The university currently offers several undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in Architecture, Urban Planning, Fashion, Arts, and Design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria</span> Public university in Reggio Calabria, Italy

Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, also referred to as Mediterranea University or University of Reggio Calabria, or simply UNIRC, is an Italian public research university, located in Reggio Calabria, Italy. In 2021, it is the third best university in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Sassari</span> Public university in Sassari, Italy

The University of Sassari is a public university located in Sassari, Italy. It was founded in 1562 and is organized in 13 departments.

The European Spatial Development Planning or ESDP-Network seeks to promote education, research and professional training in spatial planning across European countries, in collaboration with many partners in other regions of the world. To this purpose it considers planning as a process and a change agenda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida International University School of Architecture</span> Architecture school of Florida International University

The FIU School of Architecture is the architecture school at Florida International University, located in Miami, Florida in the United States. It is one of the university's 26 schools and colleges and is a school within the College of Architecture and the Arts. The school was founded in the 1980s.

Lydia Rubio is a Cuban-American artist, born in Havana (1946). After attending the University of Florida and Universita degli Studi di Firenze, she obtained a Master's in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she pursued visual studies with Rudolf Arnheim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark B. Rosenberg</span> American academic administrator

Mark B. Rosenberg is a professor and former university administrator who served as the president of Florida International University from August 2009 until January 2022 and former Chancellor of the State University System of Florida. He is member of the Council on Foreign Relations think tank and has testified before the United States Congress numerous times. He also served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Rosenberg earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science with Omicron Delta Kappa honors in 1971 from Miami University in Ohio. He earned his Master of Arts in political science in 1971 and a Ph.D. in political science with a graduate certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies in 1976 from the University of Pittsburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ETH Zurich Faculty of Architecture</span> Architecture school in Zurich, Switzerland

Founded in 1854, the Department of Architecture (D-ARCH) at ETH Zurich in Switzerland is an architecture school in Zürich, providing education in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and urban design. It has around 1,900 students, 350 staff members, and an annual budget of CHF 40 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josep Acebillo</span> Spanish architect

Josep Acebillo is a Spanish architect and is currently Research Professor at the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. He obtained his Architecture degree from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (ETSAB-1974).

Pio Colonnello is an Italian philosopher and university professor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venice International University</span>

Venice International University(VIU) is an international center for higher education and research located on the island of San Servolo, in Venice, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David M. Harper (architect)</span> American architect

David Michael Harper is an American architect, business leader and sustainable energy advocate. He is the Chief Design Officer, Practice Leader and Director for SNC-Lavalin Atkins. Engineering News Record (ENR) has ranked SNC-Lavalin Group as the 19th largest Design and CM-PM firm in the United States with 2022 Revenue of $1.5 Billion. Previously before assuming his current role he was the Global Higher Education Practice Leader and the Managing Director for HKS, Inc.

In 2000 Paolo Brescia and Tommaso Principi established the collective OBR to investigate new ways of contemporary living, creating a design network among Milan, London and New York. After working with Renzo Piano, Paolo and Tommaso have oriented the research of OBR towards the integration artifice-nature, to create sensitive architecture in perpetual change, stimulating the interaction between man and environment. The team of OBR develops its design activity through public-private social programs, promoting – through architecture – the sense of community and the individual identities. Today OBR is group open to different multidisciplinary contributors, cooperating with different universities, such as Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, Aalto University, Academy of Architecture of Mumbai and Mimar Sinan Fine Art University. Among the best known works by OBR are the Pythagoras Museum, the New Galleria Sabauda in Turin, the Milanofiori Residential Complex, the Children Hospital in Parma, the Galliera Hospital in Genoa, the Lido of Genoa, the Ex Cinema Roma, the Triennale di Milano Terrace. The under construction projects by OBR include the Lehariya Cluster in Jaipur, the Jafza Traders Market in Dubai and the Multiuse Complex Ahmad Qasir in Teheran. OBR's projects have been featured in Venice Biennale of Architecture, Royal Institute of British Architects in London, Bienal de Arquitetura of Brasilia, MAXXI in Rome and Triennale di Milano. OBR has been awarded with the AR Award for Emerging Architecture at RIBA, the Plusform under 40, the Urbanpromo at the 11° Biennale di Venezia, the honourable mention for the Medaglia d'Oro all'Architettura Italiana, the Europe 40 Under 40 in Madrid, the Leaf Award overall winner in London, the WAN Residential Award, the Building Healthcare Award, the Inarch Award for Italian Architecture and the American Architecture Prize in New York. Since 2004 OBR has been evolving its design parameters according to the environmental and energy certification LEED and since 2009 OBR is partner of the GBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Florida International University</span>

The history of Florida International University, the first public institution of higher education in Miami and largest university in South Florida, began in 1965, with the introduction of a bill for the planning of the city's first state university. Florida International University was established in 1969 when it was established as a space-grant university by the Florida Legislature. Florida International is one of the youngest but the second largest university in the State University System of Florida. Florida International's opening in 1972, was the largest opening enrollment in U.S. collegiate history with 5,667 students enrolled.

References

  1. 1 2 Nelson, Shane (August 31, 2003). "USC heats up for the Solar Decathlon". Los Angeles Times.
  2. "Thomas Spiegelhalter".
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 https://carta.fiu.edu/architecture/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/FIU-Thomas-Spiegelhalter-CV-19-July-2021.pdf
  4. Perez, Andrea (August 4, 2017). "Professor Thomas Spiegelhalter Awarded European Union's Erasmus Plus Grant to Conduct Sustainability Design Research".
  5. 1 2 3 "Thomas Spiegelhalter's profile". Facade Tectonics Institute. December 16, 2019.
  6. Communications, Florida International University-Digital. "Thomas Spiegelhalter". case.fiu.edu.
  7. 1 2 "Thomas Spiegelhalter's profile". Facade Tectonics Institute. December 16, 2019.