Natanian received a Bachelor of Architecture degree (with distinction) from the Technion in 2005. Immediately following his graduation, he joined Moshe Tzur architects in Tel Aviv and quickly became a senior architect and later an associate, working on the full spectrum of high-profile projects in Israel and abroad, e.g., Amot Atrium Tower in Ramat Gan – the first office building to receive LEED Platinum certificate in Israel. In 2012, Natanian began a master’s degree at the Sustainable Environmental Design programme at the Architectural Association (AA) in London from which he graduated in 2013 with distinction. Upon his return to Israel, he founded studioADAPT, an environmental design research practice through which he has been exploring the architectural expression of environmental design principals in practice. Natanian also taught the final year design studio at the Technion and conducted several research projects for the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection.
In 2017, after winning a full DAAD scholarship, Natanian relocated to Munich to start his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Thomas Auer at the TUM Department of Architecture. In his doctoral thesis, he explored the correlation between dense urban morphology and environmental performance in the urban and climatic context of Israel. His work has been presented at international workshops and conferences and published in several renowned scientific journals. Parallel to his doctoral research, as well as after he received his PhD with the highest distinction (summa cum laude), Natanian served as a research associate at the TUM Chair of Building Technology and Climate Responsive Design where he participated in scientific projects, coordinated and wrote EU research proposals as well as taught environmentally driven design courses for master’s students.
Natanian has recently been appointed Assistant Tenure Track Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He will work at the Environmental performance and Design Lab (EPD lab), which focusses on establishing a bridge between environmental engineering and architectural design in a cross-contextual, multi-scale and cross-disciplinary way. Among other topics, Natanian's upcoming work will deal with urban density and environmental performance as well as integrated environmental performance and architectural design workflows.
TUM Department of Architecture congratulates Jonathan Natanian to his new position and wishes him all the best for his future career!