Alfredo Brillembourg
Urban Innovator, Founding Partner of Urban-Think Tank
Brillembourg was born in New York to Venezuelan parents. He is the Founder of the Urban–Think Tank Design Group with offices in New York, São Paulo, Oslo and Cape Town…
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Full Bio
Brillembourg was born in New York to Venezuelan parents. He is the Founder of the Urban–Think Tank Design Group with offices in New York, São Paulo, Oslo and Cape Town. He has over 30 years of experience building architecture and urban design projects around the globe. He received both his Bachelor of Art and Architecture in 1984, and his Master of Science in Architectural Design in 1986 from Columbia University. In 1992 he received a second Master degree in Architecture from The Central University of Venezuela and began his Caracas practice with Brillembourg & Associates Architects. He is a member of the Venezuelan Architects and Engineers Association, the Swiss SIA, and the Norwegian NAL.
He began his teaching career in 1996 at the University Simon Bolivar and the Central University in Venezuela. In 2007 Brillembourg, as professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, founded the Sustainable Living Urban Model Laboratory (S.L.U.M. Lab). From 2010–2019, he held the Chair of Architecture and Urban Design at ETHZ and received the 2010 Ralph Erskine Award, 2011 Gold Holcim Award for Latin America, 2012 Silver Holcim Global Award for innovation in social design, and the 2012 Venice Biennial of Architecture Golden Lion. In 2018 the Empower Shack Housing project was shortlisted as an exceptional new building in the world by RIBA.
Between 2019– 2020 he was guest professor at the IOA Institute of Architecture at The University of Applied Arts Vienna and in 2021 Brillembourg became a visiting scholar at the GRIP Institute, University of Bergen, where he has founded the academic journal Parangolè about the urbanizing planet.
Testimonials
Ernie was perfect for our Elders Conference at Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan. We will definitely be using PDA again!
LITTLE RIVER BAND OF OTTAWA INDIANS
Our speaker was great and the crowd enjoyed her! She was very engaging. Thank you again PDA for the great list of suggestions!
MEDTRONIC
Everything went great! and our speaker was wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help PDA! Looking forward to the next one.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – KANSAS CITY
I hope that this message finds you well. We had a phenomenal time with Atsuko this past Thursday. We wanted to just let you know how amazing she was. All those that were in attendance thoroughly enjoyed her and had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Thank you for working with us to make sure this happened!
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!
SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dear PDA Group, Thank you so much for your hard work in scheduling our speaker! From the moment we reached out to you the first time, you worked with us on all details and logistics and kept us up-to-date on the progress. Thank you for all your hard work on making our event such a success! We couldn't have done it without you and your team!
SAP COMPANY
Thank you again, Dr. Kimbrough, for a great presentation, our attendees are still talking about it!
CAMPUS LABS
Dr. Henry Lee's presentation was entertaining, insightful and wise. I, and everyone at Pfizer, especially appreciate the remarks you directed about following your passion and preparing yourself to excel. Thank you, everyone, at PDA for helping to make this happen!
PFIZER
The event was successful! I received many messages expressing how awesome, outstanding and inspiring Ms. Webb-Christburg's speech was."
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL BREAKFAST, BOSTON, MLK SPEAKER
Everything went well. Atsuko was very easy to work with and the students enjoyed her performance! Thank you again for your recommendation and I hope to work with you again in the future!
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Novello left this morning after a very successful event on our campus! Thank you PDA Group for your help from the first phone to the last you were with us every step of the way.
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Jordan Carlos was very very entertaining! A majority of students who answered the event survey indicated they really enjoyed Jordan and definitely will bring him back!
WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can't wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Thank you, Peter, for all your help, you'll be happy to know that the event went incredibly well! Aneesa Ferreira was by far one of the best speakers we've ever had!
FURMAN UNIVERSITY
Topics
How We Should Tackle Urban Poverty
Urban ArchitectureDesign and Architectur
Urban Innovation
Videos
The growing informal city: Alfredo Brillembourg at TEDxLakeGeneva
Informal is the new normal with activist architect Alfredo Brillembourg
Books
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Testimonials
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