Ahmed Z. KHAN
Professor
Phone: +32 2 650 66 03
Email: ahmed.khan@ulb.be
BATir Department, CP 194/2
Avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 50 - B-1050 Brussels
Publications: see DI-FUSION
URL: batir.polytech.ulb.be
Graduated as an architect (1990-95) and urban designer-planner (2000-01) with over 8 years of experience in practice, Ahmed Zaib Khan completed a PhD (2008) in applied Sciences / engineering – Architecture, Urbanism & Planning, from K. University of Leuven, Belgium. Ahmed’s PhD focused on the critical relationship between theory (C. A. Doxiadis -‘Ekistics: the science of human settlements’) & practice (the making of a ‘City of the Future’ for 3 million inhabitants) unfolding meta-principles for integrated design and planning for more sustainable metropolitan futures. He broadened this research as a post-doctoral fellow at MIT (Cambridge, 2008-09), and back at KUL and VUB for the next 4 years working on issues of ‘sustainable urbanism’, ‘spatial quality’, ‘urban futures’ and ‘climate change’ in the framework of large scale European (FP-6 & 7) and regionally (IWT-SBO) funded research projects, together with teaching sustainability courses & design studios as a visiting professor. After joining BATir department of ULB (2013) as chair Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism (SAU), he teaches Bio-climatic design (BA-3), coordinates Sustainable design Studio (MA-1), and supervises several PhD research projects. The focus of these PhDs range from bio-climatism, ecosystem services optimisation (ESO), research by design, urban metabolism, energy efficiency and assessment, to urban form, urban environmental quality and urban heat island effect analysis, and urban renewal and retrofitting support systems at multiple scale levels. His current research interests include integrated design for SAU, urban ESO, metabolism & climate change, spatial quality, urban & architectural theory with particular focus on ‘sustainable urbanism’ and ‘cities of the future’ in the framework of ‘global ecological balance’. Besides 3 books, 2 Journal special issues, and over 50 international peer-reviewed publications, Ahmed has lectured extensively on issues of sustainable urbanism, urban form and ‘city of the future’ at several forums in North America, Europe and South Asia.