A
TræStrik
Researcher
Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen
Research unit
Center for IT and Architecture - CITA
In CITA we move in the cross-section between architecture, sustainability, and technology.
In our research we seek to answer how the new resource models can change the ways we build and support a transition to more sustainable architecture.
We combine artificial intelligence, advanced modelling, robot-based manufacturing, and user-oriented building with new approaches to maintenance, reparation, and recycling. It is a project that builds on CITA’s 20 years of research within computational design and digital manufacturing.
At this moment, we are focusing on biogenic architecture and renewable resources that offer a host of new opportunities for sustainable building and on the opportunities that simultaneously give rise to foundational questions on the relationship between architecture and the areas and resources that lie at the foundation of it.
Our goal is to make access to resources, material variation, and reuse into an integrated part of architecture by developing new technologies for visualization and manufacturing.
Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen, Professor
Research Motivation
My research explores the relationship between technology and critical sustainability in architecture.
I am drawn to the way architecture is affected by the technologies that visualize and manufacture it and how technology changes our view on society and shapes the way we design and build society and how it pervades its relationship with resources and environments.
I am drawn to the way architecture is affected by the technologies that visualize and manufacture it and how technology changes our view on society and shapes the way we design and build society and how it pervades its relationship with resources and environments.
TræStrik demonstrator combining reclaimed timber with CNC knit
Installation at Venice Biennale with mussel biopolymer composite panels
Mussel panels up close
ReShelter in Torben and Kirsten’s forest
ReShelter in the forest
Sensing environment monitoring cyanobacterial growth in the 3D bioprinted hydrogel
Internal partners
Martin Tamke (Associate Professor), Paul Nicolas (Associate Professor), Gabriella Rossi (Assistant Professor), Tom Svilans (Postdoc), Yulia Sinke (Postdoc), Ruxandra-Stefania Chiujdea (Postdoc), Carl Eppinger (PhD Research Fellow), Amin Adelzadeh (PhD Research Fellow), Shahriar Akbari (Research Assistant), Jan Huels (Research Assistant), Carolyn-Nelle Preston Ichniowski (Research Assistant), Katerina Toumpektsi (Research Assistant), Sebastian Gatz (Visiting Researcher), Andreea Bunica (Research Assistant)
External partners
Institutions: University of Copenhagen, Department of Biology, Marine Biology: Professor Michael Kühl; University of Stuttgart, Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE): Professor Jan Knippers; University of Stuttgart, Institute of Computational Design and Construction (ICD): Professor Thomas Wortmann; Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Danish Polymer Centre: Professor Anders Egede Daugaard; Luleå University of Technology, Wood Science and Engineering: Associate Professor Olov Karlsson; University of Innsbruck, Department of Structural Engineering and Material Sciences and Research Institute of Textile Chemistry and Textile Physics, GrwonLAB: Associate Professor Valentine Troi; Leiden University, Institute of Environmental Sciences: Associate Professor Mingming Hu; TalTech, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture: Professor Alar Just; University of Pennsylvania, Weitzman School of Design: Director Rosanna Hu; University College London, Department of Biochemical Engineering: Associate Professor Brenda Parker; University College London, The Bartlett School of Architecture: Professor of Innovative Environments Marcos Cruz; Queensland University of Technology, School of Architecture and Built Environment: Professor Tim Schork; Queensland University of Technology, School of Architecture and Built Environment: Associate Professor Muge Fialho Leandro Alves Teixeira; University of Queensland, Institute for Molecular Bioscience: Professor Ben Hankamer; University of Queensland, School of Architecture, Design and Planning: Dr Fred Fialho Teixeira; ENSAD – École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, EnsadLab / Soft Matters Research Group: Associate Professor Aurélie Mossé
Companies: Arup, Climate and Sustainability Services: Peter Vangsbo (Associate Director); 3XN / GXN Architects, GXN Innovation: Lasse Lind (Partner and Head of Consultancy, Architect MAA); Henning Larsen Architects, Innovation and Sustainability: Jakob Strømann-Andersen (Partner and Director of Innovation and Sustainability); OMTRE A/S, Norway: Kristine Nore
Communities: Torben and Lars’s forest, Hvalsø
Bibliography
Bibliography
Open Access
[1]
‘Building ecologies: practicing care, adaptation and repair in architecture through continuous construction’, The Journal of Architecture, vol. 30, no. 6–7, pp. 987–1007, 2025, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2026.2622605.
[2]
Fabricate 2024: Creating Resourceful Futures. UCL Press, 2024. doi: 10.2307/jj.11374766.
[3]
G. Rossi, ‘Designing Small Datasets: ML modeling applications for 3D printed biopolymer composites in architecture’, Det Kongelige Akademi, København, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://adk.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/designing-small-datasets-ml-modeling-applications-for-3d-printed-/
[4]
M. Ramsgaard Thomsen, M. Tamke, P. Nicholas, and P. Ayres, CITA Complex Modelling. Riverside Architectural Press, 2020. [Online]. Available: http://riversidearchitecturalpress.ca/book/cita-complex-modelling/
[5]
M. Ramsgaard Thomsen and M. Tamke, ‘Design Transactions’, in Design Transactions: Rethinking Information Modelling for a New Material Age, B. Sheil, M. Ramsgaard Thomsen, M. Tamke, and S. Hanna, Eds, UCL Press, 2020, pp. 8–13. doi: 10.2307/j.ctv13xprf6.3.
[6]
M. Ramsgaard Thomsen, S. Dalager Nielsen, and L. Miller, Eds, ‘ARDETH’, vol. 15, 2026, Accessed: Oct. 12, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.rosenbergesellier.it/ita/titolo?ref=1799
[7]
M. Ramsgaard Thomsen, ‘Computational design logics for bio-based design’, ARIN, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 13, Sep. 2022, doi: 10.1007/s44223-022-00015-8.
[8]
A. Mody, ‘Textilisations of light: using textile logics to expand the use of LED technology from a technology of display toward a technology of spatial orientation’, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, Kbh, 2015. [Online]. Available: https://adk.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/textilisations-of-light-using-textile-logics-to-expand-the-use-of/
Not Open Access
[1]
Design for Rethinking Resources: UIA World Congress of Architects 2023 Copenhagen, vol. 1–6. in Sustainable Development Goals Series, vol. 1–6. Springer, 2023. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-36554-6.
[2]
D. Stasiuk and D. og K. Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademis Skoler for Arkitektur, ‘Adaptive Parameterisation Methods for employing flexible data structures for complex modelling practices in architectural design.’, KADK, København, 2019. [Online]. Available: Adaptive Parameterisation Methods for employing flexible data structures for complex modelling practices in architectural design.
[3]
A. Rubbo, J. Du, M. R. Thomsen, and M. Tamke, Eds, Design for Resilient Communities: Proceedings of the UIA World Congress of Architects Copenhagen 2023. in Sustainable Development Goals Series. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2023. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-36640-6.
[4]
M. Ramsgaard Thomsen, M. Tamke, P. Ayres, and P. Nicholas, Eds, CITA works. Toronto: Riverside Architectural Press, 2015.
[5]
M. Ramsgaard Thomsen and P. Nicholas, ‘Built Ecologies: Metabolistic Resource Thinking Through Biogenic Materials’, Architectural Design, vol. 96, no. 1, pp. 108–115, Mar. 2026.
[6]
M. Mostafa, R. Baumeister, M. R. Thomsen, and M. Tamke, Eds, Design for Inclusivity: Proceedings of the UIA World Congress of Architects Copenhagen 2023. in Sustainable Development Goals Series. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2023. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-36302-3.
[7]
S. Hilal, M. Bedir, M. Ramsgaard Thomsen, and M. Tamke, Eds, Design for Partnerships for Change: Proceedings of the UIA World Congress of Architects Copenhagen 2023. in Sustainable Development Goals Series. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2023. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-36993-3.
[8]
A. Hasan, C. Benimana, M. Ramsgaard Thomsen, and M. Tamke, Eds, Design for Health: Proceedings of the UIA World Congress of Architects Copenhagen 2023. in Sustainable Development Goals Series. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2023. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-36316-0.
[9]
B. Faircloth, M. Pedersen Zari, M. R. Thomsen, and M. Tamke, Eds, Design for Climate Adaptation: Proceedings of the UIA World Congress of Architects Copenhagen 2023. in Sustainable Development Goals Series. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2023. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-36320-7.
[10]
R. Chiujdea, Designing for Repair: An integrated design and repair framework for 3D printing in architecture. Kbh: Royal Danish Academy, 2026.
