Layla van Ellen

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. During her masters, she developed an affinity for researching and developing new materials to facilitate a more sustainable built environment. For example, she manufactured and built recycled plastic sunshade prototypes but also went into the lab to experiment and developed a new ice composite as part of her "Building on Mars: use of ISRU for a sustainable habitat” thesis research.

After her studies, 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 PhD research focused on developing a new ontology for living, adaptable architecture using the vision and framework of Rhythmic Buildings. She co-founded Bio-Futures for Transplanetary Habitats in 2021 and leads the project BIO-TRL.