The Daniels Faculty is pleased to announce the appointment of three new faculty members: Benjamin Dillenburger, Brady Peters, and Stephen Verderber.

Assistant Professor Benjamin Dillenburger is an architect who explores the use of algorithms and other computational systems at the nexus of architecture, design, and material fabrication.  Recent projects include the construction of an experimental cupola-prototype in Taipei and the design of the first entirely 3D printed room for the FRAC (Fonds régional d'art contemporain) Centre in Orléans, France in collaboration with M. Hansmeyer. Dillenburger is just completing a PhD at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETH). He achieved his Master of Advanced Study degree from the ETH and a Master of Architecture Degree of the Technical University Kaiserslautern. Dillenburger is a director of the ETH spinoff-company KAISERSROT, an interdisciplinary consulting & design studio exploring the potential of computational design for architecture and urban planning. He has been teaching for a number of years, serving as a senior lecturer in ETH’s CAAD Architecture Group, where he was responsible for the computational-design classes of the postgraduate program. At Daniels, Dillenburger will intensify the faculty’s teaching and research in the areas of digitally-based visualization and fabrication, and parametric urbanism.

Assistant Professor Brady Peters is an architect and researcher specializing in digital design and digital fabrication. He was an Associate Partner at Foster + Partners with the Specialist Modeling Group, the office's internal research and development consultancy. He has designed many buildings whose complex geometry required the use of  parametric modeling and performance simulation techniques. Peters completed his PhD at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture in Copenhagen and achieved a Master’s degree in Architecture from Dalhousie University. His current research involves developing software to measure acoustic performance using geometric methods, visualize sound using numerical algorithms, and evaluate design options using rapid prototyping. Beyond sound, Peters research is concerned with structural form-finding, using optimisation algorithms, and environmental analysis. Peters is the co-editor of Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought, a recent issue of AD journal that maps the current state of computational design in architectural practice, and Inside Smartgeometry: Expanding the Architectural Possibilities of Computational Design. He is also a Director of Smartgeometry, an organization that promotes the creative use of computation in architecture and builds research bridges between the design professions, industry and academia. After working for more than a decade in Europe, Peters is returning to Canada. He will link the Daniels Faculty to a global network of leading computational research, and bring an understanding of these developments to the core of the Faculty’s curricula and research.

Professor Stephen Verderber is one of a handful of leading international experts in the area of health, design and architecture. He has received numerous awards for his work in the area of architecture, health, and society, including three Progressive Architecture awards, and design and research awards from the AIA and ACSA. He has published over 80 peer review articles as well as half a dozen books, including Sprawling Cities and Our Endangered Public Health ‎(2012),  Innovations in Hospital Architecture (2010), Healthcare Architecture in an Era of Radical Transformation (2000), Compassion in Architecture (2005), Innovations in Hospice Architecture (2005), and Delirious New Orleans (2008). As a professor at Clemson University, Verderber helped  lead one of the two key programs in medicine and architecture in North America. He is a frequent participant in the most prestigious academic proceedings on the subject, and a regular consultant to government and industry. Verderber holds a PhD from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has also been a guest critic at numerous universities in North America and Japan. At U of T Verderber will be cross-appointed to the newly established Dalla Lana Faulty of Public Health. At Daniels he will introduce students and colleagues to his unique perspectives on architecture, and the city’s effects on human health. His extensive experience and expertise will help shape post-graduate and PhD specializations on Design and Health now being planned at the Faculty .