Research Summary
Dr. Ajla Aksamija's research focuses on building science, high-performance buildings, advanced building technologies, innovations in architecture and facade systems.
Education
- PhD, Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- MArch, Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- BS, Architectural Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Biography
Ajla Aksamija, PhD, LEED AP BD+C, CDT, FTI Fellow is a Professor and Distinguished Chair for Resilient Places at the School of Architecture, University of Utah. Her research expertise includes building science and sustainability, emerging technologies, digital design and representations, and innovations in architecture.
Dr. Aksamija served as the Chair of the School of Architecture. Prior to joining University of Utah, she was a Professor at the Department of Architecture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She also directed Perkins&Will Building Technology Laboratory (“Tech Lab”), one of the first practice-driven research laboratories focusing on advanced building technologies, high-performance buildings, computational design, and building facades. She has taught architectural design studios, advanced environmental building design, comprehensive studios and seminars. She has worked on developing building analysis and modeling applications, implementation of novel materials in architectural design, development of computational models, and has collaborated with researchers from material science, civil and environmental engineering and computational design.
Her recent book, Research Methods for the Architectural Profession, was published by Routledge in 2021. She has authored two previously published books, Integrating Innovation in Architecture, Design, Methods and Technology for Progressive Practice and Research (John Wiley & Sons, 2016) and Sustainable Facades: Design Methods for High-Performance Building Envelopes (John Wiley & Sons, 2013). Dr. Aksamija has contributed to several other books, and has published over eighty research articles and invited papers. She has presented at various national and international conferences, and is a frequent speaker at industry-based, scientific and academic conferences. She is the founder of the Perkins and Will Research Journal, and served as editor of this first peer-reviewed research journal from architectural practice for fourteen years. She currenty serves as the President of the Facade Tectonics Institute.