Team – Universität Innsbruck

INTEGRATIVE/S DESIGN Team

Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.
Barbara IMHOF, MSc
University Professor

+43 512 507-64800
Barbara.Imhof@uibk.ac.at

Barbara Imhof is an esteemed space architect and design researcher. Educated in architecture at Vienna, London, and Los Angeles, she furthered her studies with a master in Space Studies at the International Space University and subsequently worked at NASA's Johnson Space Center. As a co-founder and leader of LIQUIFER, a firm specializing in space architecture based in Vienna and Bremen, Barbara collaborates with international partners on projects for NASA and ESA, integrating technology and sustainability to address global challenges. Since September 2023, she serves as Professor of Integrative Design with a focus on Extremes at the Institute for Experimental Architecture. Her work combines aerospace technology, ecological sustainability, and adaptive design to create living spaces suited for extreme environments.

MArch.
Natalia PIÓRECKA
Senior Scientist

+43 512 507-64802
Natalia.Piorecka@uibk.ac.at

Natalia is an interdisciplinary designer with a strong focus on biodesign and sustainable development. Her work centers around bridging architecture with scientific advancements, aiming to redefine conventional approaches to design and ecology. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Architecture from Newcastle University and a master's degree in Bio-Integrated Design from the Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL, winning the "Bartlett's Best MArch Award". Natalia's innovative projects have earned her recognition, including being featured in Forbes' "25 under 25", receiving the Green Product Award, and most recently, winning the prestigious New European Bauhaus Prize. Her work focuses on working with living organisms like mycelium or bacteria, which, coupled with her dedication to advancing sustainable design and biotechnology, aims to positively contibute to the field.

Mag. arch.
Viktoria SANDOR
Senior Scientist

+43 512 507-64803
Viktoria.Sandor@uibk.ac.at

Viktoria Sandor is an architect, currently holding a senior scientist position at the University of Innsbruck-Integratives Desing while working as a research engineer in the field of computational urban planning at the Austrian Institute of Technology. She earned her master's degree in architecture from the University of Applied Arts, Vienna, in 2017, where her thesis on "The Permanently Temporary: in the age of gravity independent architecture" received distinguished reviews, scholarships and awards. Since then, she has worked as Geometrist at the Studio Olafur Eliasson, has led design studios and workshops across Europe and has been involved in research projects with the primary focus on computational design, machine learning, point cloud notation and co-design.

Dr. ir.
Layla van Ellen
Postdoc

Layla.Van-Ellen@uibk.ac.at

Layla van Ellen is a researcher in architecture for extreme environments. She graduated from the masters Building Technology at TU Delft, focussed on extreme environments, sustainability, and material sciences. She worked as a building consultant at ARUP Amsterdam and at ZRi The Hague where she learned practical aspects of indoor comfort and safety. She learned how to close the loops at a campus level and component level whilst working as sustainability consultant with the Campus Real Estate department and as young researcher within the Climate Design + Sustainability department at the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft. She finished her PhD with the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment (HBBE) in 2024. Her research focused on developing a new ontology for living, adaptable architecture using the vision and framework of Rhythmic Buildings. There, she co-founded Bio-Futures for Transplanetary Habitats in 2021. Layla is passionate about the transition towards a sustainable built environment both on a theoretical and technical level, exploring long-term futures using extreme environmental contexts (such as Space Architecture) and new (bio)technologies to the advantages of the users -to rethink our relations with our ever evolving context.

Mag. Dr.
Judith ASCHER-JENULL
External Lecturer, Microbiologist

Judith.Ascher@uibk.ac.at

Judith Ascher-Jenull is a microbiologist with an affinity for art. She is a senior scientist at the Institute for Experimental Architecture at the Department of Integrative Design | Extremes at the University of Innsbruck. Judith Ascher-Jenull completed her studies in microbiology in 1998 at the University of Innsbruck in the working group of Heribert Insam. She received her doctorate in agricultural chemistry from the University of Milan in 2004. After 15 years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Florence in Paolo Nannipieri's group, she returned to Innsbruck in 2015 with the DACH-Decalp project. Since March 2024 she has been an external lecturer at Integrative Design | Extremes and since June 2024, she has been working on the Mycelium Seat (MUSE) project, a research project that integrates methods from natural sciences, material sciences, design and architecture in an inter- and transdisciplinary process. Judith Ascher-Jenull is actively involved in the development of the Science Center Mikromondo. As a member of the steering committee, she is involved as a consultant and coordinator. She also uses architecture and art as a universal language to arouse public interest in microbiological topics.

Arch. DI
Frank LUDIN
External Lecturer, Architect

Frank.Ludin@uibk.ac.at

Frank Ludin is a distinguished architect known for his innovative contributions to sustainable design and alpine infrastructure. He has built a reputable career through a combination of professional practice, academic involvement, and research projects. Frank Ludin received his diploma from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Innsbruck in 2004. Shortly after, in 2005, he began his professional career as an employee at the renowned architecture firm Coop Himmelblau in Vienna. His experience at Coop Himmelblau laid a solid foundation for his architectural practice, exposing him to avant-garde architectural designs and methodologies. In 2009, Frank achieved a significant professional milestone by becoming a licensed and registered architect in Austria. Between 2005 and 2009, Frank was an associate of Aste Architecture. In 2009, Frank co-founded LAAC Architekten ZT. OG with Kathrin Aste. Frank Ludin is also deeply committed to academic research and teaching. In 2012, he led a research project titled "Sustainable Design of Alpine Infrastructure" in cooperation with alpS. In addition to his research endeavors, Frank serves as a external lecturer at the Institute for Experimental Architecture in Building Construction and Integrative Design at the University of Innsbruck.

Julia OBLEITNER
External Lecturer

Julia.Obleitner@uibk.ac.at

Navigating between the documentary and the imaginary, Julia Obleitner works in collaborations across spatial, image, and text practices at the intersection of art and architecture. Her work explores large-scale territories and engages with contemporary political, ecological, and urban issues. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and the Iceland University of the Arts in Reykjavík. Julia's work has been recognized with several awards and grants, including the Pfann Ohmann Prize, the Austrian Cultural Ministry’s Margarethe Schütte-Lihotzky Grant, and the MAK Schindler Scholarship in Los Angeles, among others.