Team

Barbara Imhof is an internationally renowned space architect and design researcher. Her work is dedicated to developing innovative living spaces for extreme environments while simultaneously exploring forward-looking approaches to sustainable living on Earth. As co-founder and co-director of LIQUIFER Vienna–Bremen, an interdisciplinary team spanning architecture, space technology, and science, she works on projects focused on design solutions for resource-constrained environments, material innovations, and new manufacturing methods. Since September 2023, Barbara Imhof has been a professor at the University of Innsbruck, where she integrates the content and methodologies of her space-related work into research and teaching at the Department for Experimental Architecture within the group of Integrative Design - with a focus on extreme environments.

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.

Mathias Bank is an architect, post-doc researcher, and artist whose work explores the intersections of digital technology, art, and design. He studied at the Aarhus School of Architecture, the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and the University of Applied Arts Vienna, where he earned his master’s degree with distinction. He concluded his PhD in Advanced Computational Design as part of a SFB research programme focussing on Computational Immediacy and on methods for integrating AI tools into design-oriented workflows. His practice challenges conventional notions of design by employing digital 3D tools, simulations, and generative AI to explore new forms, textures, and aesthetics. Through these approaches, he investigates how objects and landscapes can be reimagined to reflect contemporary culture. Mathias’s work has been exhibited internationally across Europe, Australia, and the Middle East, receiving several awards and grants. He also lectures in the postgraduate program Designing Future Realities at the University of Innsbruck and is Co-Founder of Artefact Mixed Reality Studio.

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.

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.

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.

Monika Brandić Lipińska is a space architect and researcher. Her work explores how architectural design, in-situ resource utilisation, biotechnologies, and living materials can shape resilient habitats that support human well-being in extreme environments, and how lessons from space can inform more sustainable approaches to the built environment on Earth – emphasizing resourcefulness, respect for ecological limits, and connection to place and people. Monika completed her PhD at the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment at Newcastle University, in collaboration with NASA Ames Research Center, where she developed biological strategies for Martian habitat construction. She also holds a Master of Architecture from Lund University and a Master's in Space Studies from the International Space University. With international experience across Poland, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, France, the US, the UK, and Japan, Monika brings a global perspective to design, teaching, and research. She is co-founder of the Bio-Futures for Transplanetary Habitats platform and, since 2020, has been an internal consultant at LIQUIFER.

Pablo graduated in 2020 with a Master’s in Architecture from ETSAM, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, specializing in computational design and digital fabrication. He is currently part of the ATP architects and engineers’ Computational Design Team. In this role, he helps integrate digital technologies across the company through research, development, internal training, and project-specific workflows for design and engineering teams. His previous experience includes international collaborations with offices such as Studio RAP, Common Accounts, or Ecosistema Urbano, working on projects across Europe, Central, and North America. His work spans different scales and disciplines, from architectural design and art installations to specialized prototypes and exhibition models.