Collegium Helveticum
Switzerland
fellow
Thomas Schröpfer
2023-2024
Home institution
ThomaSingapore University of Technology and Design, SG
Country of origin (home institution)
Singapore
Discipline(s)
Earth, environmental and climate sciences; Others
Theme(s)
Environment, Sustainability & Biodiversity
Fellowship dates
›
Biography
Thomas Schröpfer is professor, founding programme director, and associate head of the research pillar/cluster “Architecture and Sustainable Design” at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). He also serves as director of SUTD’s Advanced Architecture Laboratory and co-director of the Singapore-ETH Centre Future Cities Laboratory Global.
His research centers on the interplay of design, technology, and environmental sustainability in urban planning, architecture, and design. It has been showcased at prominent international venues, including the Venice Biennale, The Chicago Athenaeum, and the World Architecture Festival. His book publications, such as Dense+Green Cities: Architecture as Urban Ecosystem (2020) and Dense+Green: Innovative Building Types for Sustainable Urban Architecture (2016), have been translated into multiple languages. His achievements have earned him prestigious accolades, including multiple awards by The Chicago Athenaeum and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, the Singapore President’s Design Award, the German Design Award, and the Asia Education Leadership Award.
Research Project
Dense and Green Cities: Emerging Models of Integrated Urban Development
Contemporary urban planning, design, and architecture practices are increasingly exploring the potential of sustainable integrated districts (SIDs) as models for future high-density, high-livability cities. SIDs aim to fully realize planning and design innovations by deploying and integrating them through larger systems solutions at the urban scale. Building density and sustainability in SIDs are often seen as mutually dependent and synergistic.
During his visiting professorship at ETH Zurich and senior fellowship at the Collegium Helveticum, Thomas Schroepfer will primarily be working on a book that is slated for publication by Birkhäuser in fall 2024. The book will explore important questions of concept, planning, design, technology, and experience of key examples of recently completed and currently planned SIDs in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. These include, among others, one-north and the Punggol Digital District in Singapore; King’s Cross in London, United Kingdom; Zuidas in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Les Lumières Pleyel in Paris, France; and Quayside in Toronto, Canada.
Research Interests:
building density; sustainability; urban planning; architecture