Arianna Brambilla — Raising the bar

Making buildings that are good for the earth

Shifting buildings from being one of the biggest carbon emitters to regenerating our environment.

Buildings are responsible for a quarter of total emissions in Australia. A lot of energy is needed to cool and heat buildings, which typically do not have efficiency targets in mind.

The ambitious goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 demands that we no longer assume buildings should passively take from our ecosystem. We need our built structures to repair and restore.

Arianna is laying the groundwork for a new generation of buildings. Her bold vision imagines structures that are energy and water self-sufficient, encourage healthy eating habits and contribute to regulating heat stress and pollution in dense urban environments.

Bio

Arianna Brambilla is an Associate Professor in Architecture, with a PhD in Building Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano, completed in 2015. Arianna’s background merges the fields of architecture, construction, building physics and engineering, with special expertise sitting at the nexus of the built environment and sustainability.

Arianna’s research has a particular focus on building envelope performance – or the building’s ‘climate control’ provided by its outer shell. She considers the impact of building envelopes on our comfort, as well as the outdoor microclimate and the broader ecosystem.