Xavier De Kestelier is joint head of Foster + Partners’  Specialist Modelling Group (SMG), the practice’s multi-disciplinary research and development group. With his team, he has worked on projects such as Beijing Airport, Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, Kuwait Airport and the Yachtplus super yachts.  Over the years he has been a Visiting Professor at Ghent University, Adjunct Professor at Syracuse University and is currently a Teaching Fellow at The Bartlett School of Architecture. Since 2010 , he has been one of the directors of Smartgeometry.

Foster + Partners is part of a consortium set up by the European Space Agency (ESA) to explore the possibilities of 3D printing to construct lunar habitations. Addressing the challenges of transporting materials to the moon, the study is investigating the use of lunar soil, known as regolith, as building matter.