Peter von Bülow is a professor of architecture at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. His area of research focuses on the use of evolutionary computation for exploration and optimization of structural systems. Prof. von Bülow has worked professionally in both architecture and engineering offices in Germany and the United States, including RFR-Stuttgart, Greiner Engineering, and SL-Rasch. He also spent a year at the University of Stuttgart’s Institute for Lightweight Studies (under Frei Otto) as a Fulbright Scholar.
Some of von Bülow’s research work involved contracts with the U.S. Air Force for the development and blast testing of thin-shell, lightweight personnel shelters. He also worked for the U.S. Navy in designing a modular family of frame-supported tensile structures for use as maintenance facilities by the U.S. Marine Corps. Other research efforts have included the load testing of a grid shell dome and the design and construction of a branching steel “tree” structure. Dr. von Bülow continues a special interest in innovative structural systems and computational exploration of form.
Prof. von Bülow has a doctorate in engineering from the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design at the University of Stuttgart. He also received two degrees from the University of Tennessee: a Master of Science in Civil Engineering and a Bachelor of Architecture.
