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View Larger Image and Additional Photos of Luan FontesAbout Luan Fontes : I'm an architecture student with a strong commitment to sustainability and the future of our built environment. My work centers on creating designs that align with environmental responsibility, seeking innovative ways to address the climate challenges our industry faces. I believe in integrating sustainable practices at every stage of the design process and am driven by the idea that our cities can play a meaningful role in a more sustainable world.
I am a forward-thinking first-generation architecture student and urban design enthusiast deeply committed to creating sustainable, innovative spaces that enhance communities and elevate the human experience. With a blend of academic excellence, hands-on experience, and a relentless drive for positive change, I’m dedicated to shaping a brighter, more sustainable future through architecture and design.
Currently, I am an exchange student at Columbia University, where I am enrolled in Columbia GSAPP and the Columbia Climate School under an Admissions Scholarship. My studies focus on Climate Change Adaptation, Urban Studies, GHG Emissions, Life Cycle Analysis, and Climate Change Law and Policies.My independent achievements include over 18 awards in international architecture and urban design competitions out of 37 competitions in the last 3 years. These experiences have honed my ability to balance conceptual innovation with real-world practicality.
Embarking on my journey at the esteemed Porto School of Architecture, I’ve immersed myself in the rich tapestry of design thinking, architectural theory, and history, consistently ranking in the top 1% of my class. Guided by luminaries like Alvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura, I’ve cultivated a deep understanding of architectural principles and a passion for pushing the boundaries of conventional design.
In addition to my academic pursuits, I am a Research Intern at the Columbia Climate School, working with the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes and Rio Climate. Under the mentorship of experts like Alex de Sherbinin, I contribute to projects addressing climate vulnerability, urban adaptation, and the future of social housing in vulnerable areas of Rio de Janeiro.
My thirst for knowledge has led me to explore diverse disciplines beyond architecture. From Harvard Business School’s Crossroad Emerging Leaders Program to the Norman Foster Foundation’s Sustainability and Energy Program, I’ve honed my skills in business acumen and sustainable design, preparing me to tackle complex challenges at the intersection of architecture, business, and sustainability.
Equipped with a diverse skill set spanning Revit Autodesk, Rhino, Python, and other advanced tools, I integrate cutting-edge technology and data-driven insights into my design process, ensuring spaces are functional and environmentally responsible. My research in sustainable urban planning and energy efficiency reinforces this approach.
My dedication to innovation and excellence has been recognized on national and international stages, including awards like the Tubądzin Design Awards and a nomination for Forbes Under 30 in the Design category.
At the core of my approach lies a commitment to creativity, empathy, and resilience. Whether navigating complex design challenges or advocating for social and environmental justice, I bring analytical thinking, leadership, and attention to detail to every endeavor, ensuring each project I undertake is imbued with purpose and integrity.
ORGANIZATION:
Columbia University
EDUCATION:
Columbia University
Exchange Student - Columbia GSAPP. Columbia Climate School Cross-registration. Admissions Scholarship. New York, US.
Sept 2024 - Present
Main studies: Climate Change Adaptation, Urban Studies, GHG Emissions, Life Cycle Analysis, Climate Change Law and Policies.
Research Intern at the Columbia Climate School | Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes | Rio Climate.
Notable mentors and professors:
Alex de Sherbinin (Director, Columbia Climate School. Senior Research Scientist).
Porto School of Architecture
3rd year — Bachelor of Architecture. Admissions Scholarship. Porto - Portugal (In person) Jun 2022 - Jun 2025
Main studies: Design Thinking, Architectural Theory, History of Architecture, Drawing.
Academic performance: Top 1% of the class.
Class representative.
Notable mentors and professors:
- Alvaro Siza (Pritzker Prize, Royal Gold Medal, Porto School of Architecture) and Eduardo Souto de Moura. (Pritzker Prize).
Harvard University
Harvard Business School — Crossroad Emerging Leaders Program. Full Scholarship. Massachusetts, United States (Online).
Jan 2020 - Jun 2020
Main studies: Business, Entrepreneurship, Business to Customers, and Leadership.
- Conducted In-depth research to gather data and insights into the case problems, potential solutions, and best practices.
- Engaged in case studies, analyzed real-world business scenarios (war, poverty, and conflicts), and developed potential solutions.
- Notable mentors and professors:
- Tarun Khanna (Director, South Asia Institute, Harvard University) and Karim Lakhani (Professor, Harvard University).
Norman Foster Foundation
Sustainability and Energy Program - Urban Planning and Urban Design, Full Scholarship. Madrid, Spain (In Person) Feb 2023 - Feb 2023
Main studies: Sustainability, Energy, Climate Change, Urban Planning.
- Conducted comprehensive research on sustainable urban planning principles, energy-efficient technologies and materials.
- Studied and analyzed urban infrastructure systems to identify opportunities for urban planning efficiency and enhancements.
- Notable mentors and professors:
Norman Foster (Pritzker Prize, Stirling Prize, Royal Gold Medal) and Hashim Sarkis (Dean, School of Architecture and Planning - MIT).
European Innovation Academy
Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Program, Full scholarship. Porto, Portugal (In Person). June 2022 - June 2022
Main studies: Sustainability, Marketing, Business Planning, Business Model, Financial Management, Energy, Cleantech, B2B and B2C.
- Conducted market research to identify sustainable business opportunities, assess demand, and understand customer behavior.
- Developing a business plan that addresses sustainability goals and outlines strategies for achieving them.
- Notable mentors and professors:
- Alina Adams (Founder & CEO, Cleantech, Stanford University) and Tanel Erm (Principal Engineer, Microsoft, Tartu University).
EXPERIENCE:
Bjarke Ingels Group
Architecture and Urban Design Assistant. New York, United States (In Person) May 2023 - Dec 2023
- Supported the architects in developing architectural designs, including creating sketches, models, and renderings.
- Conducted research on materials, construction methods, building codes, and sustainable design practices.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Shadower. New York, United States (In Person) Jan 2023 - April 2023
- Accompanied architects on-site visits to gain practical knowledge of construction processes, materials, and site management.
Gained exposure to the selection of construction materials, finishes, and building systems, considering functionality and sustainability.
PRIVATE EXHIBITIONS:
• MOOD Design Museum - “Out of sight” Project exhibited in the MOOD Design Museum, Italy.
• Dwelling in transition - “New Anusual” Project exhibited in the Dwelling in Transition, Portugal.
• European Innovation Academy - “Groof & Co” Project exhibited at the European Innovation Academy.
• Archdaily Brazil - “Out of sight: Sustainable Social Building” published in the Archdaily.
• 32nd Arquisur - “Out of sight” Project published in the 32nd International Arquisur.
• A’ Design Awards - “Out of sight” Project published in the A’ Design Awards.
• Porto School of Architecture - “Out of sight” Project published in the Porto School of Architecture.
• Design Educates Awards - “Out of sight” Project published in the Design Educates.
• American Institute of Architects - “Out of Sight” Project published in the AIA.
• ELLE Design Magazine - “Out of Sight” Project published by ELLE Design Magazine.
• European Architecture Platform - “Out of sight” Project published in European Architecture Platform.
• Norman Foster Foundation - “Crossing Lava” Project published in Norman Foster Foundation.
• Daily Architecture Winners. - Project “Out of sight” published in the Daily Architecture Winners.
• Architecture Competition - Project “Out of Sight” published in the Architecture Competition.
• Tubądzin Design Awards - Project “Out of sight” published in the Tubądzin Design Awards.
• Lina Community - “Out of sight: Housing and leisure as a human right” published.
EVENTS:
- Niemeyer World Forun.
- Arquisur.
- Healthy House, Healthy City Competition.
- International Union of Architects 2021.
- United Nations, Future Action Days.
AWARDS:
• Young Visionary Architects Competition
Second Place in the Mixed Use Category of the international competition with the “Out of Sight” project: second stage.
(Jury: MVRDV, Carlo Ratti Associati, MAD Architects).
Top 10 in the Mixed Use Category of the international competition with the “Out of Sight” project: first stage.
(Jury: MVRDV, Carlo Ratti Associati, MAD Architects).
• 27th International Union of Architects
- Selected to the International Union of Architects student program.
• Forbes Under 30
- Nominated to the 24th edition of the Forbes Under 30 in the Design Category.
• American Institute of Architects
- Honorable Mention in the Force of Mejaure Competition with the “Out of Sight” project in the Student category.
• Brazilian Council of Architecture and Urbanism - Healthy House, Healthy City Competiton
- Winner of the International Competition with the “Out of Sight” project in the “Design for People” category. (Jury: United Nations Habitat.)
- Nominee in the International Competition with the “Out of Sight” project in the “Social Housing” category. (Jury: United Nations Habitat.)
• Tubądzin Design Awards
- First Place in the Grand Prix of the international award with the “Out of sight” project in the Young Power category.
- First Place in the First Stage of the international award with the “Out of sight” project in the Young Power category.
• Design Educates Awards
- Honorable Mention in the international award with the “Out of sight” project in the architectural design category. (Jury: MVRDV and BIG).
• Art Films Awards
- Honorable Mention in the international award with the architecture film “New Annusual” in the short film category.
• A Design Awards
- Silver Award Medal in the international award with the “Out of sight” project in the Sustainable Design category.
• World Architecture Awards
- Winner of the international award with the “Out of sight” project.
• Green Product Awards
- Winner of the international award with the “Out of sight” project.
• Moneyshot Challenge
- Winner in the international challenge with the “Out of Sight” project.
• 32nd Arquisur
- Nominee and Finalist in the international award with the “Out of sight” project.
- Nominee and Finalist in the international award with the research article “Forging Futures through Academia: Teaching and Community in Social Housing”.
• Green Concept Awards
- Winner of the international award with the “Out of sight” project.
• Eduwik Architecture Excellence Awards
- Second Place in the international award with the “Out of sight” project in the Mixed Use Category.
• Inspireli Awards
- Winner of the international award with the “Out of sight” project.
• European Innovation Academy
Finalist at European Innovation Academy with the “Groof & Co.” project.
- Nominee at the Simon Architecture Prize with the “Out of Sight” project.
PRESS APPEARANCES:
MOOD Design Museum: Project “Out of sight” exhibited in the MOOD, Design Museum, Italy.
Daily Architecture Winners: Project “Out of sight” published in the Daily Architecture Winners.
Architecture Competitions: Project “Out of sight” published in the Architecture Competitions.
32th Arquisur: Project “Out of sight” published in the 32th Arquisur.
A’ Design Awards: Project “Out of sight” published in the A’ Design Awards.
Porto School of Architecture: Project “Out of sight published in the Porto School of Architecture.
The Best New Architects: Project “Out of sight” published in the The Best New Architects.
Design Educates Awards: Project “Out of sight” published in the Design Educates Awards.
Wettbewerbe Aktuell: Project “Out of sight” published in the Wettbewerbe Aktuell.
D5 Mag Design Magazine: Project “Out of sight” published in the D5 Mag Design Magazine.
Polpettas: Project “Out of sight” published in the Polpettas.
ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS:
• Forging Futures through Academia: Uniting Teaching, Research, and Community in Social Housing.
- Nominated and Finalist in the Arquisur International Award with the research article.
• The Nexus of Sustainability, Social Housing, and Economic Inequality in Brazil: A Critical Analysis.
- Nominated and Finalist in the Arquisur International Award with the research article.
• Public Space and Placemaking: Evaluating the Impact on Youth Health and Wellbeing.
Nominated to the Journal of Public Space, UN-Habitat, and Young Game changers Initiative.
• Nature Based Strategies for Urban Climate Adaptation: Insights from cities from global south to north.
- Nominated to the Nature Based Solutions Symposium, Science Po.
• Bridging Income Inequalities to Build Climate Resilience in Rio de Janeiro's Informal Settlements.
- Columbia Climate School, Center for Integrated Earth System Information, and Rio Climate.
• Social Vulnerability Due to Climate Change in Rio de Janeiro.
- Columbia Climate School, Center for Integrated Earth System Information, and Rio Climate.
BOOKS:
- Award Winning Industrial Design Yearbook - ISBN Number 978-88-97977-34-6
- Dwelling in transition - “New Anusual”, Portugal.
LANGUAGE SKILLS:
Mandarin
Portuguese
Spanish
COMPUTER LITERACY:
Revit, intermediate.
Adobe Illustrator, advanced.
Adobe Photoshop, advanced.
Adobe InDesign, advanced.
Adobe Acrobat, advanced.
Adobe After Effects, advanced.
Adobe Premiere Pro, advanced.
Adobe Audition, advanced.
Adobe Lightroom, advanced.
Adobe Bridge, advanced.
Rhinoceros, intermediate.
Grasshopper, intermediate.
Phyton, intermediate.
C#, intermediate.
C++, intermediate.
HTML, intermediate.
Javascript, intermediate.
AutoCAD, intermediate.
Vray, intermediate.
Lumion, intermediate.
3dsMax, intermediate.
Corona, intermediate.
SketchUp, intermediate.
COURSES, SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS::
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Relevant courses in the fields of Architecture, Business, Computation,
Sustainability, and Urban Planning — Edx (Online).
Transformative Living Labs in Urban Climate Action. - Instructors: Christoffer Knittel.
Sustainable Building Design. - Instructors: Christoffer Knittel.
Cities and Climate Chance: Mitigation and Adaptation. - Janelle Hayes, Juan Osorio, and Cynthia Rosenzweig.
Harvard University
Relevant courses in the fields of Architecture, Physics, Math, Business, Computation, and Sustainability — Edx (Online).
• Introduction to Computer Science
- Instructors: David J. Malan.
• Introduction to Programming with Python - Instructors: David J. Malan.
• Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python - Instructors: David J. Malan.
• Health effects of Climate Change.
- Instructors: Aaron Bernstein, John Spengler, and Joseph G. Allen
• Past, Present, and Future of Urban Life.
- Instructors: Edward Glaeser.
United States Green Building Council.
Relevant courses in the fields of environmental and energy performance in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction field.
• Life Cycle Analysis: Advancing Sustainability in Real Estate and Construction.
- Instructors: Edward Glaeser.
• Materials and Resources.
- Instructors: Steven R. Baer, Carlie Bullock Jones, and Wess Sullens.
• Green Recovery: Federal Financing for Green Communities.
- Instructors: Vatsal Bhatt.
• Green Finance for Green Buildings.
- Instructors: Kelly Gearhart and Boyka Ognyanova.
• Incentivizing Decarbonization w/ the Inflation Reduction Act.
- Instructor: Ben Evans.
• High-Performance Buildings
- Instructors: Theresa Backhus, Ryan Freed, and Lindsey Shaw.
• Weather Modeling Tools for Buildings in a Changing Climate
- Instructors: Daniel Villa.
• Low Carbon Materials
- Instructor: Green Building Education Systems.
• Rethinking Building Carbon Accounting.
- Instructors: Scott Farbman.
• Accelerating Building Decarbonization with LEED.
- Instructor: Wes Sullens.
• Building Design and Public Health
- Instructors: Adele Houghton and Larkin Johnson.
• Addressing Resilience in LEED for Cities and Communities.
- Instructor: Suprita Biswas.
• Carbon Health Circle.
- Instructors: Anne Hicks Harney and Lona Rerick.
• Indoor Environmental Quality
- Instructors: Carlie Bullock-Jones, Nancy Clanton, and Michelle Stern.
• Codes & Standards on the Path to Zero Net Energy
- Instructors: Ted Tiffany.
• Informing Sustainable Design Through Economic Analysis
- Instructors: Stephane Larocque and Shane Minckley.
• Benchmarking Sustainability Metrics
- Instructor: Shannon Oliver.
Delft University of Technology
Relevant courses in the fields of Architecture, Physics, Math, Business, Computation, and Sustainability — Edx (Online).
City Planning:
• Building Inclusive Cities.
- Instructors: Maarten Ham, Igor Pessoa and Leo Burg.
• Sustainable Urban Development.
- Instructor: Arjan van Timmeren and Huub Rinjnaarts.
• New Approaches to Global Urban Challenges.
- Instructors: Caroline Newton and Roberto Rocco.
• Co-creating Sustainable Cities.
- Instructors: Gert Spaargaren.
• Urban Ecology Design.
- Instructors: Nico Tillie..
• Urban Design for the Public Good.
- Instructors: Remon Rooij.
Building Performance:
• Managing Building Adaptation.
- Instructor: Erwin Heurkens and Hilde Remøy.
• Introduction to Water and Climate.
- Instructor: Gabriela Pereira and Edimara Luciano.
• Designing a Climate-Neutral World: Taking Action
- Instructor: Kornelis Blok.
• Energy Demand in Buildings.
- Instructor: Laure Itard.
• Energy Supply Systems for Buildings.
- Instructor: Laure Itard.
• Comfort and Health in Buildings.
- Instructor: Laure Itard.
• Efficient HVAC Systems.
- Instructor: Laure Itard.
• Sustainable Energy Transition.
- Instructor: Arno Smets.
• Zero Energy Design.
- Instructor: Andy van den Dobbelsten.
• Decarbonization of Heat.
- Instructor: Martin Bloemendal.
• Managing Building Adaptation.
- Instructor: Erwin Heurkens.
Built Environment
• Global Housing Design.
- Instructors: Dick Van Gameren and Nelson Mota.
• Facade Design Engineering.
- Instructor: Ulrich Knaack.
• Sustainable Building with Timber.
- Instructor: Arjan van Timmeren.
• Principle, Materials, and Technology in Facades.
- Instructor: Alessandra Luna Navarro.
Sustainability
• Designing a Climate Neutral World: Introduction.
- Instructor: Kornelis Blok.
• Designing Climate Neutral World: Buildings and Transport.
- Instructor: Kornelis Blok.
• Designing Climate Neutral World: Industry and Electricity.
- Instructor: Kornelis Blok.
• Designing Climate Neutral World: Taking Action.
- Instructor: Kornelis Blok.
SYMPOSIUMS AND ACADEMIC CONFERENCES::
2019, 32st Arquisur, Minas Gerais/Brazil.
2021, International Union of Architects 2021.
2019, Niemeyer World Forun.
MEMBERSHIPS & ASSOCIATIONS:
Associate Member, World Design Ratings.
HOBBIES:
Ballet, yoga, piano, surf, parkour and CrossFit.
WEB SITE:
luanfontes.co
PORTFOLIO URL:
luanfontes.co
RSS URL:
luanfontes.co
REGISTRATION DATE:
2021-01-21 08:54:18
COUNTRY/REGION:
United States of America
ACCOUNT TYPE:
Academic
Awards received by Luan Fontes
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Out of Sight Sustainable Social Building Silver A' Design Award Winner for Sustainable Products, Projects and Green Design Category in 2020 Luan Fontes for Luan Fontes |
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