Architecture

Aoife Houlihan Wiberg is delighted to join The School of Architecture at the University of Florida as Professor of Architecture and Associate Director of Research. She is an international architect, academic, and researcher with over 15 years of experience in Net Zero Emission buildings and neighbourhood design, living labs, embodied carbon methods, and data visualisation. She has been a guest speaker across Asia, Europe, and the USA and serves on several international scientific and editorial committees.

Previously, she held academic positions at the University of Bath and Ulster University in the UK. She also spent a decade at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, contributing to the Research Centre for Zero Emission Buildings and the Research Centre for Zero Emission Neighbourhoods in Smart Cities.

She joins us from the UK from The Department of Architecture and Engineering at The University of Bath and at The Belfast School of Architecture at Ulster University, Belfast where she was Professor of Architecture, and Chair of Research in Architecture. She worked for 10 years at The Research Centre for Zero Emission Buildings (ZEB http://zeb.no/index.php/en) and The Research Centre for Zero Emission Neighbourhoods in Smart Cities (https://fmezen.no) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.

She is a Chartered member of The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), graduated as an architect from Cardiff University and completed her M.Phil. and PhD Degrees in Architecture from the University of Cambridge, England. She serves as the UK National Expert in the International Energy Agency (IEA EBC) Annex 89 – Ways to Implement Net-zero Whole Life Carbon Buildings (2023-28). Previous she led research as both UK and Norway expert in Annex 72 – Assessing Life Cycle Related Environmental Impacts Caused by Buildings (2017-2023) and serving as Norway’s national expert in Annex 57 – Evaluation of Embodied Energy and CO2eq Emissions for building construction (2012-2015).

Yohan Kim holds a Ph.D. in Architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), specializing in Technologies of the Built Environment, with a focus on innovative façade systems for tall office buildings and computational simulations. His research and teaching broadly center on sustainable design strategies and emerging technologies for tall buildings, addressing critical global challenges such as rapid urban population growth and mass urbanization.

Kim’s doctoral dissertation investigates the impact of double-skin façade (DSF) configurations on indoor airflow behavior in tall office buildings (i.e., buildings over 200 meters) and develops DSF design guidelines based on natural ventilation potential, utilizing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. He has published in several journals, and his work has been recognized with the Chicago Committee on High Rise Buildings (CCHRB) Scholarship and the ARCC King Student Medal for Excellence in Architectural and Environmental Research.

Before joining the University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning, Kim served as a Visiting Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of the Master of Tall Buildings and Vertical Urbanism (MTBVU) program at IIT, where he played an active role in developing the program from its launch in 2022. Within the MTBVU program, he taught advanced design studios and seminar courses that explored both the design and technical aspects of architecture, emphasizing the integration of research into the design process. He also served as the Academic Coordinator at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the world’s leading non-profit organization focused on tall buildings and future cities.

Elizabeth Cronin joined the School of Architecture as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Fall 2025. She holds a Ph.D., MSAS in Architecture Pedagogy, a Master of Architecture, and a Bachelor of Design in Architecture from the University of Florida.

Her work spans research, teaching, and practice to cultivate expansive methods of architectural design and education. She has specific interest in domestic craft practices, bodies, and loose-fit design processes, which she explores in her dissertation, “Emergent Practice: Fields of Resistance.” For her doctoral work, she received the ARCC King Student Medal for Excellence in Architectural and Environmental Research and UF School of Architecture’s Critical Discourse Award. She was also selected as a college finalist for the Madelyn Lockhart Fellowship Award.

In 2015, Cronin founded Vorkurs—UF School of Architecture’s graduate publication, now in its tenth edition—to which she has been a frequent contributor. Her work has also appeared in Architecture Research Journal and conference proceedings from the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) and the International Association for the Study of Environment, Space, and Place (IASESP).

An experienced educator, Cronin has taught undergraduate and graduate studios at the University of Florida and the University of Miami. She brings expertise in architectural pedagogy, with a focus on teaching methods and beginning design education. In addition to her academic work, Cronin has practiced architecture in Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami.

Biography:

CARLA BRISOTTO, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the School of Architecture. Dr. Brisotto is an interdisciplinary researcher, urban theorist, and licensed architect from Italy. She previously served as the Assistant Director and Assistant Scholar at the Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience (FIBER) at the University of Florida (UF). Brisotto holds a Ph.D. in Design, Construction, and Planning from UF and an Architecture degree from the University IUAV of Venice. At the core of Brisotto’s research lies the intersection of urbanism and environmental narratives. Her research focuses on productive and cultural landscapes in relation to climate through both contemporary and historical lenses. More recently, she has been conducting research that examines how people engage in self-resilient practices of disaster coping mechanisms to inspire more resilient design strategies. Brisotto also works with local governments to support capacity building, communicating highly technical and scientific research to residents, and educating about community resiliency to facilitate collaborations and partnerships.

Brisotto has published a book, ‘Re-Imagining Resilient Productive Landscapes: Perspectives from Planning History,’ (IPHS first place in the edited book category) along with book chapters, double-peer-reviewed papers, proceedings, and presentations at several national and international conferences. She has been teaching History and Theory of Architecture, Urban Design and Planning, and seminars on Urbanism and Resiliency. Beyond UF, Brisotto has collaborated with institutions like Morgan State University, Politecnico di Milano, and Drury University, emphasizing a commitment to teaching, research, and service in urban design internationally.

Keywords: Urbanism, Cultural Landscape, Community Design and Planning, Resilient Design, Qualitative Research, Mixed Methods, Storytelling

Michael Montoya is a lecturer at the University of Florida School of Architecture where he primarily teaches design as well as lecture courses. He also taught as a Visiting Assistant Professor at UF in 2000 and returned in 2015 – 2018 as an Adjunct Assistant Professor, teaching in the Undergraduate and graduate programs. During his tenure since beginning as a lecturer in August 2019 he has taught design in all four levels of the undergraduate program as well as Architecture History 1 and Materials and Methods 2.

He has initiated the beginnings of research in the areas of pedagogy, suburban popular culture, picturesque and the highway. His professional work spans a career of over 30 years in the profession working for various firms in Florida. Some projects he served as lead designer for are the Winston YMCA in Jacksonville, Florida, The Industry West Showroom in Jacksonville, Florida and The Florida Blue Stores throughout the state. Michael Montoya received his Bachelor of Design from The University of Florida and his Master of architecture from The University of Florida awarded with the Alpha Rho Chi Medal.