Do-No-Harm, Do-More-Good: Building for Sustainability in the Galápagos

This program will research innovative and implementable solutions for the design of sustainable human habitats that do no harm to—and do more good for—ecologies surrounding the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador. The area’s fragile ecosystem is threatened by a recent surge in land-based tourism, a critical source of revenue for the expanding population. Participants will consider the ways sustainable relations can develop between natural environments, human uses and needs, and buildings and built infrastructure. Students will establish and enact their projects in collaboration with stakeholders that include the University of San Francisco-Quito, global engineering firm Buro Happold, Galápagos islanders, government officials, environmental engineers, economists, and theoreticians, giving the students and university an opportunity to add value to this unfolding and real-world challenge.

Faculty team members:

• David Heymann, M.Arch., Professor, School of Architecture
• Gregory Brooks, M.Arch., Professor, Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
• Fernanda Leite, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering 

Student team members:

• Sarah Bryant, Architecture
• Juan David Ledesma, Architecture
• Claudia Katrina Fierro, Architectural Engineering
• Olivia Parker, Electrical Engineering/ Plan II
• Lynna Benhamou, Biological Environmental Science
• Mariana Mercado, Architectural Engineering
• Eduardo Terrazas, Urban Studies/Architecture
• Justin Zhang, Finance/Business Honors
• Bianca Busogi, Biochemistry/Plan II
• Katherine Ospina, International Relations and Global Studies/Sociology
• Carmen Whitten, Architecture
• Sarah Wildenstein, Civil Engineering
  

International partners:

• University of San Francisco-Quito, Quito, Ecuador
• Buro Happold, Bath, United Kingdom