Faculty Directory

Geoffrey Thün is an Associate Professor of Architecture at Taubman College at the University of Michigan. He also holds an Adjunct Professor position at the University of Waterloo and Ryerson University in Canada. In 2011 he will be a Visiting Professor to the International Summer University in Renewable Energy hosted by Freie Universität Berlin and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin fur Materialien und Energie, where he will lecture on architectural integration of renewable energy systems. At Taubman College, he currently teaches graduate level Site Planning and Operations, and a graduate elective seminar in Landscape Infrastructure that applies action research principles to complex problems linking industrial ecology to emerging formats of urbanism, and is an M.Arch Thesis Advisor. He was a faculty lead for the 2010 University of Michigan's Campus Sustainability Integrated Assessment, undertaken to assist in shaping U-M's commitment to institutional sustainability practices and policies.

His research pursues the integration of complex systems theory in design practice and ranges across scales from examination of regional ecologies and infrastructures to the development of high-performance prefabricated building systems and interactive responsive architectures. He holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Western Ontario, B. Environmental Studies and a professional B.Arch. from the University of Waterloo, and a Master's of Urban Design from the University of Toronto. He has received external funding from the U.S. Department of Energy / National Renewable Energy Laboratory, NRCan, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Ontario Power Authority (OPA). Internal support for this work has been received from the Research Through Making program, The University of Michigan Office of the Vice President for Research, and the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute.

Thün is a founding partner with Kathy Velikov and Colin Ripley in RVTR Inc., a research-based practice with studios in both Toronto and Ann Arbor. Velikov and Thün were recipients of a 2008 Young Architects Forum Award for their portfolio of design from the Architecture League of New York, and a 2005 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence for SWAMP House, a prefabricated solar vacation home. The firm was awarded the 2009 Canadian Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture for their work in the field of Mass-Customized housing for Northern climates. Thün was the faculty lead for North House, an inter-institutional trans-disciplinary project to develop a net-energy producing residential prototype for the near north. North House has been recognized with a 2010 OAA Award of Design Excellence, and a 2010 R&D Award of Excellence from Architect Magazine.