Presidential Lecture Series - Werner Sobek, \"Building the World of Tomorrow\"

The third installment of the Presidential Lecture Series, hosted by President John L. Anderson, was presented on Tuesday, March 5, 2013. John W. Rowe, chairman of the IIT Board of Trustees and chairman emeritus of Exelon Corporation, introduced the lecture entitled, \"Building the World of Tomorrow,\" presented by IIT Mies van der Rohe Visiting Professor Werner Sobek. Building the World of Tomorrow requires nothing more and nothing less than a paradigm shift. We have to change our general attitudes from compartmentalized, short-term thinking to a holistic view based on the long term. We have to learn to take into consideration the whole life-cycle of our built environment, i.e. its design, its construction, its use, its refurbishment, and finally also its deconstruction. This implies a much wider focus than usually associated with \"green building.\" For example, instead of thinking only of energy efficiency we also have to learn how to make our buildings fully recycleable while maintaining full user comfort and functionality. Werner Sobek presents a selection of tools, materials, and planning techniques making such a paradigm shift possible. His building designs as well as his research projects provide an exciting glimpse on what is already feasible—and what might become reality in the future.