People | Faculty & Teaching Staff

 

John E. Fernández Associate Professor, Department of Architecture and Engineering Systems Head, Building Technology Program Co-Director, International Design Center, Singapore University of Technology and Design Research Director, Urban Metabolism Group at MIT John E. Fernandez is an Associate Professor and member of the Building Technology Program in the Department of Architecture, with a joint appointment in ESD. He has been a member of the faculty since 1999, teaching in the design studio and numerous technology courses including Integrated Building Systems, all department structures courses, construction and materials and various workshops. His research has been focused on the materials and physical elements and components of the assemblies and systems of buildings. A culminating publication of his research of the past several years is the newly published book, "Material Architecture: emergent materials for innovative buildings and ecological construction." (2005. Architectural Press: Oxford). Currently, Professor Fernandez is engaged in the articulation of concepts of the ecology of contemporary construction. This effort involves identifying the distinct consumption profile and resource requirement attributes of our existing anthropogenic stock of buildings while formulating design strategies that contribute to reuse and recycling of building materials and components. Accepting the essential tenets of the field of industrial ecology, Fernandez is involved in two primary initiatives intended to bring forth real change in the ways in which material and energy networks are configured toward the making of contemporary buildings. Professor Fernandez began his architectural career in New York City where he was a senior designer in the firms of Kohn Pedersen Fox and Polshek and Partners. He is a principal of Lampietti-Fernandez Architects with his wife, Malvina Lampietti. He is a graduate of MIT (BSAD '85) and Princeton University (March '89).