Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, University of Chile
Prof. PhD
Gabriel Felmer Plominsky
biography
Professor Gabriel Felmer is an architect from the University of Chile and holds a PhD in Sustainable Environmental Design from the Architectural Association in the UK. His academic and professional career focuses on sustainable architecture, design and innovation, with special emphasis on low-carbon and mass timber construction. He has led pioneering efforts in carbon- neutral housing, including the design and construction of Chile’s first experimental mass timber housing module. Currently, he serves as Assistant Professor at the Institute of Housing of the University of Chile, where he coordinates the Master’s in Residential Habitat, directs the Micro- Fabrication Laboratory, and serves as Associate Editor of Revista INVI. Throughout his career, Professor Felmer has combined research, teaching, and applied design, earning multiple awards including the CONICYT Doctoral Scholarship, the Jeffrey Cook Prize, an honorable mention at ARQUISUR 2021 for his work on carbon-neutral housing and a FONDECYT research grant. His research focuses on life cycle environmental assessments, sustainable housing solutions, and development of bio-based construction materials, particularly thermal and acoustic insulation made from native fungi and wood waste. He has published extensively in leading Q1 journals and has contributed to international projects on climate- sensitive planning and mass timber’s role in climate mitigation. His international collaborations include institutions such as the Department of Architecture of the University of Tokyo, Politecnico di Torino, Washington State University and Poznan University of Technology. He has also played a key role in academic outreach, organizing high-impact events such as the Chile–Japan Timber Architecture Seminars and the Mycelium Metamorphosis Symposium. Bridging science, design, and sustainability, his work advances the role of architecture in addressing environmental challenges through innovative material research and low-carbon construction practices.
