Prof. Kiel Moe joins faculty of School
Prof. Kiel Moe joins the School as the inaugural Gerald Sheff Chair in Architecture as of September 1, 2018.
Prof. Moe is an outstanding researcher in the field of environmental technology, at the intersection of architecture and energy systems, his work providing a uniquely expanded conception of the total thermodynamics of building by using a new ecosystem analysis methodology. This method couples novel operational energy strategies for buildings with a multi-scalar grasp of the ecology and geography of construction. The research advances the science and technology of building but also integrates a socio-cultural vector that situates such engineering design in broader historical, political, and economic accounts of how to best build in this century. Prof. Moe's work shows the immense potential of addressing a broad range of technical, historical, ecological, and social issues through the focused perspective of thermodynamics.
He is an experienced teacher in design studio and in a variety of courses on construction and energy in buildings. He will be a leader in reshaping our sequence of technology courses, especially as it relates to sustainability issues.
He most recently was co-director of the MDes degree program in the Advanced Studies Program at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design (GSD), where he was also the Director of the Energy, Environments, and Design research unit, the Co-Coordinator of the Energy & Environments MDes concentration, and Faculty Associate of Harvard University Center for the Environment.
Prof. Moe has already published 8 books (with one more in press, and another in preparation), amongst which Thermally Active Surfaces in Architecture (Princeton Architectural Press, 2010), Insulating Modernism. Isolated and Non-Isolated Thermodynamics in Architecture (Birkhäuser, 2014), and Empire, State & Building (Actar, 2017). He also maintains an architectural design practice, widely recognized in publications and design award programs in national and international contexts.
He was the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Architecture at Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland in 2016-17, selected for both his research and creative practice related to the thermodynamics and ecology of timber architecture. While in Finland, Moe completed work on his latest book Wood Urbanism: From the Molecular to the Territorial (Actar 2018). He was also awarded Gorham P. Stevens Rome Prize in Architecture for the 2009-2010 fellowship year, which brought him to the American Academy in Rome for a year.