Thomas Lutzkendorf studied at Bauhaus-Universität in Weimar and graduated as a civil engineer. Subsequently, he was a Research Fellow at the Department of Economics in the Construction Sector at Bauhaus-Universität and completed his PhD-study on the Description, Assessment and Optimisation of Buildings’ Energy Demand.

Thomas was post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Building Ecology and Building Climate at the Department of Architecture, Bauhaus-Universität, Weimar. He received his postdoctoral lecture qualification with a Habilitation treatise on the Implementation of Sustainable Development Principles within the Construction Sector.

Also in 2000, Thomas became professor at Universität Karlsruhe – today’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Since then, he is the director of the Institute of Sustainable Management of Housing and Real Estate. The Institute belongs to the KIT Department of Economics and Management but is also associated with the Department of Architecture.

Within his research and educational work, Thomas is concerned with questions relating to the implementation of sustainable development principles within the construction and property (real estate) industries. Thomas was and currently is involved in the development and testing of sustainability assessment systems for buildings (BNB, DGNB, NaWoh).

Thomas is a founding member of the International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment (iiSBE) and a member of the Editorial Board of Building Research & Information.

Thomas Lutzkendorf studied at Bauhaus-Universität in Weimar and graduated as a civil engineer. Subsequently, he was a Research Fellow at the Department of Economics in the Construction Sector at Bauhaus-Universität and completed his PhD-study on the Description, Assessment and Optimisation of Buildings’ Energy Demand.

Thomas was post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Building Ecology and Building Climate at the Department of Architecture, Bauhaus-Universität, Weimar. He received his postdoctoral lecture qualification with a Habilitation treatise on the Implementation of Sustainable Development Principles within the Construction Sector.

Also in 2000, Thomas became professor at Universität Karlsruhe – today’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Since then, he is the director of the Institute of Sustainable Management of Housing and Real Estate. The Institute belongs to the KIT Department of Economics and Management but is also associated with the Department of Architecture.

Within his research and educational work, Thomas is concerned with questions relating to the implementation of sustainable development principles within the construction and property (real estate) industries. Thomas was and currently is involved in the development and testing of sustainability assessment systems for buildings (BNB, DGNB, NaWoh).

Thomas is a founding member of the International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment (iiSBE) and a member of the Editorial Board of Building Research & Information.

Ana María Durán is an Ecuatorian architect, researcher, educator and writer. She cofounded the architecture and design studio Estudio A0 in 2002 in Quito. She currently works as a professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Arts in the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Quito.

During her career, Ana María served as a visiting professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. In 2010, she developed a south American open research network (The South American Project), which led her to obtain a Loeb Fellowship by Harvard University.

As a writer, Ana María Durán edited the book Beyond Petropolis: Designing a Practical Utopia in Nueva Loja between 2006 and 2011; her essays have been published in numerous magazines (Harvard Design Magazine, RADAR, AULA, GAM, TRAMA, Clave) and books (Thinking Practice, Restructuring from Within by the Post Post Post catalogue); and she published her first poetry book in 2010, titled Cuerpojo Azul.

She conducts her research in the fields of remote territories urbanization, such as the Amazonia and the Galápagos Archipelago; the study and visualization of the infrastructural integration process in south America and also the discovery of the inspiration that gives birth to the contemporary design in specific regions.

Dr. Luis Valenzuela has a PhD in Design from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University; he is an architect and MsC in Architecture by the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He is also a Fullbright Fellow, as well as nominee for the Manny Grant Fellowship by Graham Foundation and the Luksic Fellowship of David Rockefeller’s Center for Latin-American Studies at Harvard University.

Since 2011 Dr. Valenzuela has worked as Director of the Center of Territorial Intelligence (CIT) and professor of Adolfo Ibáñez University’s Faculty of Design. He has also worked as Subdirector of the Design School and as professor for the Master in Innovation Program of the School of Business of the same institution. Since 2013 he’s an associate researcher at the Center of Conflict Studies and Nacional Cohesion, leading research projects centered in inequality, crime and territory. During 2014 and 2015 he was visitant professor at the Graduate School of Design of Harvard University, where he gave several lectures on territorial intelligence.

From 1997 to 2011 he worked as professor for the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urban Studies, acted as Director for the City Observatory, and as Executive Director of External services for the Architecture, Design and Urban Studies Faculty of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. During this time his research focused on sustainable urban design and vulnerable spaces in the urban context. He’s an affiliated researcher at the Institute of International Urban Development (IIUDS), Cambridge, USA –previously known as Center for Urban Development Studies at Harvard University.