The launch
The lab was launched in July 2019 by him, then Programme Leader of the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Architectural Engineering, and Amirhosein Ghaffarianhoseini, then Head of Postgraduate Studies in Architectural Engineering. It set out to apply architectural and design thinking to global challenges, using Auckland as its testing ground, and to bring digital technologies and user centred design together in intelligent, sustainable and healthy buildings that contribute to smarter cities.
He stressed the link between research and teaching: the theories and practices the lab developed should be incorporated into academic curricula, so that students graduated with the tools the industry would need.
Built Futures
On 3 October 2019, as part of World Green Building Week and in collaboration with the New Zealand Green Building Council, the lab ran a pecha kucha event with Associate Professor Nicola Naismith, then Head of Built Environment Engineering. Seven doctoral and master’s students presented research on BIM, sustainable design, housing affordability, neuroarchitecture, acoustic comfort, governance of driverless technology and passive design in warm climates.
AUT described the event as showing the university’s future focused vision for optimising the sustainable performance of urban environments, using Auckland as a living lab.
Significance
The lab was an early act of institution building. Its research lines, from neuroarchitecture and comfort to BIM and autonomous vehicles, became doctoral theses and journal papers, and students who presented at Built Futures, among them Sameh Azzazy and Attiq Ur Rehman, went on to publish major studies with him. It also laid groundwork for the School of Future Environments, formed the following year, in which architecture and engineering sit together.
A model for research led teaching
The lab’s link to the undergraduate programme was deliberate. Students in the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Architectural Engineering could see research in progress, take part in projects and carry methods into their final year studios, an approach that brings research into teaching rather than keeping it separate.