Lars Gräbner

Dipl.-Ing. Lars Gräbner, an associate professor of practice in architecture at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, teaches architecture, urban design, and advanced construction methods. In 2011, he founded VolumeOne Design Studio, an international practice based in Detroit. Together with partner and co-owner Christina Hansen, Gräbner focuses on urban design and innovative housing and operates in various scales, exploring the built environment under social considerations and the advancement of building performance.

A licensed and award-winning architect, Gräbner specializes in residential and public projects with urban design challenges. His focus is an interdisciplinary approach to projects, where he involves specialists from various fields.

VolumeOne has received commissions in China, Germany, Spain, and the United States and has executed projects of various scales and categories, such as educational, cultural, commercial, and residential projects. Noteworthy are the successful competition submissions for the Anhui Province Acrobatic Center and the Anhui Museum of Art in Hefei, China. Realized projects include a university campus in Ma’anshan (CN), the Middleschool Nr. 45 in Hefei (CN), the Urban Mansion Kindergarten in Hefei (CN). For several multifamily housing projects in Detroit and Chicago VolumeOne was awarded the ‘Most Innovative Multi-Family Architecture Studio’ (Michigan/ Build Design and Build Award) in 2023.

Gräbner gained experience in urban design, project development, and construction documentation in several architectural offices since 1995. Gräbner was lead designer at Studio Daniel Libeskind, then based in Berlin.

Prior to his position at Taubman College, Gräbner taught at the ETH Zurich/Switzerland and the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design/Germany.

Gräbner’s interest in urban issues includes research on Detroit and a contribution to Mapping Detroit: Land, Community, and Shaping a City (Wayne State University Press, 2015).

Gräbner received his master of architecture (Dipl.-Ing.) from the Universität Hannover, Germany, and was awarded the 1996 Preis der Universität Hannover for Outstanding Work at the Department of Architecture.