Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen

My research investigates the relationship between architecture, technology and sustainability, asking how new computational methods can support a fundamental rethinking of the materials and practices through which we build. It brings together computational design, digital fabrication and material research to examine architecture as part of larger material and ecological systems.

Eco Metabolistic Architecture investigates a new biogenic paradigm for architecture, asking how the heterogeneous, dynamic and environmentally responsive properties of biological materials can become active parameters of design. The research develops computational methods for representing material heterogeneity and behaviour and connects these to new fabrication practices. Extending beyond production, it examines buildings across their lifespans through maintenance, repair, adaptation and renewal, positioning architecture as part of continuously changing material and ecological systems.

Resource Aware Architecture extends this research towards resource aware design and construction, developing computational methods for engaging the variability and heterogeneity of materials as a design resource. Bringing together material characterisation, sensing, computational modelling and fabrication, the research investigates how architectural production can adapt to available resources rather than relying on standardised material inputs.

I founded CITA in 2005 as a research environment for investigating how emerging technologies transform architectural thinking and practice. Over two decades, CITA has developed into an international interdisciplinary research centre connecting architecture with computer science, engineering, material science and advanced fabrication. Its research is organised through large collaborative programmes, experimental design practice and the development of new computational and material methods, creating a shared environment in which architectural questions can be investigated across disciplinary boundaries.

Architectural demonstrators are central to my research practice, bringing computational methods, material experimentation and fabrication together at architectural scale. Works including Rhizaerial, Repair Ecologies, Local Resource / Collective Knowledge and ReShelter operate as research environments in which new material systems can be designed, fabricated, observed and evaluated. Exhibitions extend these investigations into public and cultural contexts, creating sites for testing architectural propositions while opening the research to wider disciplinary debate.