Research Institute for
Sustainability | at GFZ

Angela Lee

Fellow

© RIFS@GFZ/ S. Letz

E-Mail

ka [dot] ki [dot] lee [at] rifs-potsdam [dot] de

Architect and professor, Angela leads Studio HAAU, a cross-disciplinary practice investigating spatial ecologies and the hidden metabolism of urban environments through the lens of new materialism and invisible infrastructures. Her work moves between design experimentation, curatorial research, and participatory protocols. Formerly lead architect at Chartier Dalix, she contributed to award-winning projects bridging urban ecology research and construction. She has also collaborated internationally with NGOs, envisioning architecture as a meeting ground across design, psychology, pedagogy, and public engagement.

Her current research at RIFS explores Brandenburg's heating transition and Potsdam's urban development, positioning geothermal infrastructure as a planetary actor. By articulating relationships between urban materiality and representational methods, she investigates how invisible infrastructures function as agents of metabolism-through lifecycle, circularity, and stratification. The project reveals how overlooked, everyday practices can open new imaginaries of commons and collective action, offering a bottom-up, poetic understanding of energy flows in planetary urbanism.

  • 2025 - Planetary Transitions Residency at DAAD / RIFS / City of Potsdam
  • From 2023 - Professor at École Spéciale d'Architecture, Paris; leading the Beyond Infrastructure design studio in the bachelor program and directing the master diploma
  • 2017-2022 - Lead Architect in Research and Innovation at Chartier Dalix Architects, Paris; developed interdisciplinary methods to integrate biodiversity and ecological systems into architecture
  • 2012-Present - International teaching and conference presentations at institutions including École des Ponts, LISAA, Pratt Institute, and DISLOCAL
  • From 2010 - Led participatory design and community-based workshops internationally, including Cambodia (IDEA Project) and Bulgaria (Bread House Network, Nine Elephants)

  • Waste Metabolism and Circular Material Flows in Transitory and Adaptive Urbanism Design

  • Post-Carbon Infrastructure as Regenerative Urban Ecosystems

  • New Materialisms and Experimental Prototyping: Socio-Spatial-Regional Interrelations, Life Cycle Analysis, and Reuse

  • Spatial Design and Digital Modelling; Integration of Non-Human Living Systems in Built Environments, Specializing in Building Envelopes

Publications prior to joining the RIFS

  • Co-author, Smart Sustainable Cities of the New Millennium: Towards Design for Nature, Springer, 2021 (Research partner on project DeMo: Urban Ecosystems Design and Modelling - A spatial-based approach to integrate habitats in constructed ecosystems, with ZHAW (Zurich University of Applied Sciences))

  • Contributor, Participatory Design in Architecture: Creating Space for Participation, Joint Publishing, 2023

  • 2024-25 - Ecole Spéciale d'Architecture, Paris. Guest Lecture Series Speaker: From Biodiversity to an Inclusive Aesthetic of the Living
  • 2024 - Ecole Spéciale d'Architecture, Paris. Guest Lecture Speaker: A Global History of the Aesthetic of the Living
  • 2024 - DISLOCAL Experimental On-site University, Río Caribe. Conference Speaker: An Inclusive Aesthetic in the Living
  • 2019 - Ecole supérieure d'art et de design TALM-Le Mans. Conference Speaker: Between Static and Fluidity, Finding the Limit of Form

  • Recipient, Eleanor Allwork Scholarship, The Center for Architecture, New York
  • Finalist, 2014 Robert A.M. Stern Architects Travel Fellowship
  • Recipient, James W. Atkinson Memorial Scholarship, Pratt Institute, New York
  • Recipient, Integrated Design School for Socially Aware Education, Social Design Foundation