Dr Steffen Lehmann

Biography

I joined the University of Portsmouth to lead research and to establish the interdisciplinary Research Cluster for Sustainable Cities.
Prior to this, as a full professor for the last 15 years (since Dec 2002), I have held a range of senior leadership positions, ranging from Head of School to Head of Discipline and Director of impactful research centres. I have been in research intensive positions for the past decade. During this time I have had significant responsibility in creating and leading new urban research formations, generating a large publication and granting output and a continuous stream of successful research students.
At the University of Portsmouth (UK) I am a tenured Research Professor. I was previously a tenured Chair Professor of Sustainable Design at the University of South Australia, where I was also founding director of two highly successful research centres (2010-14).
My research interests span architecture, urban design and sustainability with a strong focus on improving the environmental performance of buildings and neighbourhoods by introducing the concept of 'integrated urban climate resilience'. I believe architects and urban designers have a crucial role to play in developing strategies and adaptation solutions to ensure our cities are resilient, resource-efficient and more sustainable in the face of intensifying global warming.
One of the key questions I am trying to answer is: How can design thinking and behaviour change accelerate the move towards a sustainable society?  
The fruits of my research are prodigious, including 17 books, numerous articles and conference papers (over 150+), over 40 invited book chapters, encyclopaedia entries, online podcasts and contributions to significant UN reports. For the last 8 years, I have been advising the United Nations' UN-ESCAP and UNESCO organisations on urbanisation models and 'The New Urban Agenda'. In 2008, based on the international significance of my work, I was appointed the chairholder of the prestigious UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Urban Development for Asia and the Pacific (2008-2010).
From 2016 to 2018, I hold an Honorary appointment with the Institute for Sustainable Futures, at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).
I am currently an editorial board member for five international scientific journals and editor of the Routledge book series for Sustainable Design.
I have an international outlook and extensive experience as a senior academic and practitioner in Europe and Asia, particularly in China. In April 2014, I organised and led the high-profile international group mission and research symposium ‘Sustainable Urbanisation of China’ at Tianjin University.
I studied at the Architectural Association School in London in the 1980s (AA Dip 1990), and completed a PhD (Dr.-Ing.) in Architecture and Urbanism at the TU-Berlin.

Leadership in architectural practice:
I have a long and distinguished career as an architect and urban designer - with a strong track record as a practising architect and policy adviser - and I like to combine practice with research and teaching. Industry collaboration is a strength and I have been leading numerous outreach initiatives to practitioners, policy makers, municipalties, business and citizens.
As a young architect and urban designer I have first worked with visionary architects Arata Isozaki in Tokyo and Jim Stirling in London, before establishing my own architectural practice (the s_Lab, Steffen Lehmann Architekten Berlin) in 1993 in Berlin. With my own studio I was actively involved for over 10 years in the architectural creation of the `New Berlin'.
In Berlin and throughout my career, I was privileged to work on numerous high profile projects: I designed and built significant large-scale (public and private) projects in historically important places, such as at Potsdamer Platz and at Hackescher Markt in Berlin, for high-profile clients.
The s_Lab in Berlin, which I led as Principal and Founding Director for over a decade, was an interdisciplinary studio employing around 20-25 staff, based on the belief that architecture can deliver the most important innovations of our time. In the 1990s, the s_Lab was an adventurous team of architectural designers, architects, researchers, urban planners, digital craftspeople, urban ecologists and model-makers, delivering a construction budget of $900mill in 20 projects.
With the s_Lab, I led project partnerships with architects Arata Isozaki and Christian de Portzamparc for the design and delivery of significant large-scale buildings, such as the French Embassy as 'Generalplaner'.
I built for over 30 clients, including notable institutions such as the Bundesverband Deutscher Banken, the Auswaertige Amt (German Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Deutsche Bahn AG, the Berliner Volksbank, Daimler Immobilien - and numerous others we have represented - with entities as diverse as the Senate of Berlin, the Republique de France, Manhattan Loft Corp, URA Singapore and the City of Sydney.
Over the last 25 years, I have presented projects to heads of state and heads of corporations, with international bankers and small-town advisors, with bureaucratic prime bodies like the Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (German Workers Union) and autocratic empire builders in Asia and the Middle East.  
Since then, I have been invited to teach at many different universities around the world and have been a Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley, TU-Munich (as DAAD Professor), TU-Berlin, the National University of Singapore, Tongji and Tianjin University and at other prestigious institutions.
In my free time I enjoy running with my cocker spaniel ‘Mawson’ along the Southsea waterfront.

Memberships
Member, Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
Member, Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA)
Member, Academy of Urbanism (AoU)
PhD Supervision: I have successfully supervised a variety of interdisciplinary PhD studies as Primary Supervisor (since 2003) in the field of sustainable architecture, urbanism, design theory and socio-technical change. I am happy to discuss proposals with potential PhD candidates that connect to my field and are interested to explore open-ended questions. PhD students will have the freedom to 'design' their own research, and to 'research' in design.
In my free time I enjoy running with my cocker spaniel ‘Mawson’ along the Southsea waterfront.

Education

Dr.-Ing. (TU Berlin); AA Dip (AA London)

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

The Cluster for Sustainable Cities is developing a trans-disciplinary approach to scaling-up urban innovation for low-carbon living, working and mobility. I am excited about our research leading to innovation and new critical thinking about our urban futures.
My own research interests are in the following intertwined areas: 'The City as Laboratory'
• Resilient urbanisation for low carbon compact cities and coastal resilience
• Green urbanism theory - visionary scenarios for the City of the Future
• Urban culture and new programmes for age-friendly public space
• Urban architecture and its relationship to the contemporary city
• Sustainable architecture and smart high-performance buildings
• Climate-responsive design and technology integration
• History and theory of cities, urban renewal and cultural heritage
• Optimisation of urban density and compactness: greening cities and health
• Architectural responses to urban heat stress and sea-level rise
• Ideas-driven concepts for the resource-efficient city: eg. infill using modular prefabrication
• Fast growing cities in the Asia-Pacific region.
In my research I aim to focus on practical application to enhance the conditions for urban design strategies and decision-making under uncertainty; combining ongoing research into sustainable design, construction methods and end-user driven system integration.
I am committed to the efficient use of land, compactness, polycentrism, high-quality public space, mixed uses and appropriate density, through urban infill or regeneration strategies to trigger economies of scale and enhance resource efficiency.
The Cluster is particularly interested in the relationship between architectural form and performance; and in developing low-impact and low-energy construction systems and solutions across the entire project life cycle.
My own track record of publications shows sustained scholarly contributions and advancement of knowledge in the relatively young research field of Sustainable Urbanism. Given the significant leadership roles I have held over the last 15 years, the number of my academic publications is strong with a steep increase since 2010.  
My Book Series is here: www.routledge.com/series/EARTHSD

My forthcoming book 'Growing Compact. Urban Form, Density and Sustainability' (Routledge, with Bay JH) will be launched in June 2017 and contribute new knowledge in the complicated field of urban density.  
My Google Scholar profile: http://scholar.google.co.uk/

Research impact:
My multidisciplinary research has had significant impact (reach and significance) by influencing practice, leading to new thinking and improving urban policies. Some of my publications have become a point of reference for practice and I have been presenting my work publicly at over 450 events in 39 countries.
I have been advising over a dozen cities on sustainable urban development. The impact of my research work is tangible in:
- influencing decision-making, public policy and improving outcomes,
- public sector and industry collaboration: uptake of the developed concepts,
- improving the efficiency of urban practice and technologies,
- stimulating and leading public debate, engaging citizens with research and collaboration,
- making research outcomes accessible for users to adopt,
- identifying pathways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and
- enhancing understanding of sustainable growth.

By invitation, I am currently advising the Asia-Pacific SDG Partnership (which consists of the United Nations ESCAP, the Asian Development Bank and UNDP) on "Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies" (which is taking the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda to the next level), including contributions to the formulation of new policies, forthcoming high-level guidance for decision makers, key reports and an international conference in 2018.
Research leadership
Having been Founding Director of three successful research centres, I lead large multi-disciplinary research projects and teams for which I provide mentoring, coaching support and team building.
More recently, I have been involved in complex projects on nature-based solutions for inclusive urban regeneration and the food-water-energy nexus, forging large consortia with a number of European cities, including Brighton, Portsmouth, London, Brussels, Madrid, Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Mannheim, Gdansk, Rome, Lisbon, Uppsala and others.

Websites

• Cluster Website

• Facebook

Books