Prof. dr. Rafael NOVAIS PASSARELLI

Rafael Passarelli is a researcher and designer with a particular focus on contemporary wooden architecture and construction. He has vast international experience as a researcher, architect, and educator. In 2009, Rafael joined the design and construction of the first net-zero-energy house in Finland. The experience expanded his perspective on the possibilities of sustainable mass timber construction and design/build education. In 2011, as a guest researcher at TU Vienna, he studied the application of CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) in construction. In 2017, Rafael Passarelli earned his Ph.D. degree from The University of Tokyo, analyzing the potential for circularity and sustainable performance of CLT construction in Japan. He then worked as an architect in the largest architecture firm in Japan, designing large-scale mixed-use developments.

Currently, Rafael Passarelli is an Assistant professor of Sustainable Construction and Circularity at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts. He is deeply interested in merging the boundaries between architectural design, construction, and research by applying the results of his studies into practical solutions that can address some of the pressing socio-economic and environmental challenges of our times. Rafael Passarelli believes the expansion of a Circular Economy in the AEC industry has the potential to create a regenerative, low-impact system, pointing to a better-built environment and future for all of us.