The research interests of Professor Auer (b. 1965) are in the field of climate responsive building design. The aim of this work is to optimize energy performance and environmental quality while taking into consideration local specifics such as the macro- and micro climate and the influence of building form and material. The research focuses primarily on energy efficiency and how it influences the built environment, in particular with reference to building scale (form, material and technology) and district/urban scale (urban form, infrastructure, etc.). Simulation tools are used to assist in analyzing and optimizing the interdependence between buildings and their technical services.
Professor Auer studied process engineering at the University of Stuttgart. Since then he has dealt extensively with issues relating to the energy efficiency and user comfort of buildings within the framework of his role at Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH. Between 2001 and 2008 Professor Auer had a teaching assignment at Yale University. Subsequently he held visiting professorship positions at the University of Kassel, the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris, the University of Sassari (Università degli Studi di Sassari) in Italy and Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. He has been a professor at TUM since 2014.
Kathrin Aste
Kathrin Aste founded the company LAAC together with Frank Ludin in 2009.
LAAC tries to be an interface for implementation, teaching and research besides doing projects of architectural practice. Based on key issues LAAC develops concepts, which are used as a fundamental research and finds it application in specific projects. In the course of this the context and function play a central role. By using modern design methods innovative and pioneering buildings, constructions and structures are systematically developed.
LAAC investigated sustainable architectural solutions for environmental problems. The architecture emerges from their relationship with the environment. Design, construction and material try to interpret and to challenge this context.
At Innsbruck University she was a member of the Curricular Commission and represented Austria in the EU Commission for the notification of curricula. In her work as a member of the Chamber of Architects she cares mainly about the topic education. Currently she is chairwoman of the Association aut [Architecture Forum Tirol] which organizes exhibitions, debates and lectures on local and international architecture.
From 2000 till 2008 she was assistant professor at the University of Innsbruck. She was a guest professor at the University of Liechtenstein and currently she is professor at the Academy of fine Arts in Vienna, where she is leading the platform geography, landscape and cities.
Liam Young
Liam Young is a speculative architect who operates in the spaces between design, fiction and futures. Trained as an architect in Australia, he has worked for a number of the world’s leading design practices. As technology increasingly became the fundamental driver of urban change Young became frustrated with the slow pace of traditional architecture and set up his own speculative futures think tank, Tomorrows Thoughts Today, a collaborative practice, working across science, technology and architecture. To ground his design fiction practice in the realities of present Young has also cofounded the research studio ‘Unknown Fields’, an award winning nomadic workshop that travels on annual expeditions to the ends of the earth to investigate emerging trends and uncover the weak signals of possible futures. He develops this research through teaching positions at the Architectural Association in London and is visiting professor at Princeton and currently teaches at SCI-Arc.
