This keynote will explore how our profession has responded to the climate emergency, critically questioning whether we truly believe the solutions we are producing are the right ones. The lecture invites reflection on current practices and encourages a deeper examination of our assumptions, methodologies, and responsibilities in the face of climate change.

Wolf Mangelsdorf is a partner and structural engineer based in Buro Happold London office, He is Buro Happold’s Global Head of Design, Technology & Innovation. Since first joining the firm in 2002, Wolf has led large multidisciplinary teams on some of the world’s most structurally complex buildings, including Zaha Hadid’s City of Dreams development in Macau and the Battersea Power Station Master Plan in London. Wolf is charged with ensuring the highest level of design and technology methodologies, collaborating with the wider global practice. Trained as an architect and civil engineer, Wolf’s varied background informs his ingenuity as an engineer, enabling landmark buildings such as the Museum of Transport in Glasgow, Scotland, and the roof of the Médiacité retail center in Liege, Belgium. He has written, lectured and presented extensively on the topic of structuring strategies for complex geometries and is fluent in English, German, Italian and French. In October 2021, Wolf took on the prestigious role of Professor of Structural Design at The University of Applied Arts Vienna, leading their Department of Structural Design at the Angewandte’s Institute of Architecture (IoA).

This event will take place in person in the AA Lecture Hall and will also be live-streamed here.

You can also watch the Emergent Technologies and Design (EmTech) Jury from 10.30am online here.