Michael BUDIG (Dr)

Michael Budig is an enthusiastic designer, educator, and technology innovator who operates at the intersections of culture, technology, and entrepreneurship. He is an Associate Professor of Practice in Architecture at the National University of Singapore and the director of the ReAL Lab for Research in Renewable and Regenerative Architecture, which pushes the boundaries of design and construction, driven by digital technologies and a desire to provide innovative solutions for decarbonisation in the built environment. The ReAL Lab engages in cutting-edge research in renewable materials, digitalisation, robotic fabrication, and circular construction.

Among his primary targets is to bring wood back into the architectural discourse, including the Global South, and to expand the capabilities of renewable materials through hybridisation. He uses high-performance synthetic materials to enhance wood and, in return, investigates how wood can supplement building structures to increase their adaptability and reduce embodied carbon. The work extends to the interfaces between architectural spaces and robotic technologies, developing and designing solutions for better integrating autonomous machines in building environments. His built projects include industrial buildings, such as a metal recycling company and soap production facilities in Innsbruck, as well as residential projects. The building, furniture, and industrial designs have won multiple international awards.

Previously, Michael Budig was the inaugural CEO of the educational robotics startup Wefaa and an Assistant Professor in Architecture and Sustainable Design at Singapore University of Technology and Design. He held academic positions at MIT, ETH Zurich / FCL Singapore, the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and the University of Innsbruck. He also practised as an architect and principal of Moll Budig Architecture, a multi-disciplinary office focused on architecture, urbanism, and design strategies in Austria. He has taught design to around 3,000 students, covering first-year introductory and prototyping courses to design studios, thesis projects, and building technology courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

Michael Budig obtained his PhD at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). Before receiving his Master of Architecture (Dipl.-Ing.) at the University of Innsbruck, he spent the final year developing his thesis project at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (UCL). He was licensed and accredited as an architect in the European Union by the Austrian Board of Architects.