Biography
Michael Salka is a Teaching Associate in History & Theory of Architecture and Design for the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge, where he previously completed his PhD as a Gates Scholar. Michael’s doctorate investigates how contemporary bioregional architectures can be understood as emergent products of social-ecological networks (SENs). This research reflects Michael’s expertise in the innovative integration of high design and technology with regenerative, place-based approaches. Within the Department, Michael is also a member of the Behaviour and Building Performance research group and a previous convener of the long-standing Martin Centre Research Seminar Series.
Michael is additionally a Co-director of the Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings & Biocities (MAEBB), and Technical Director of Valldaura Labs, at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC). In these capacities he leads an holistic research, development, and innovation agenda forwarding advanced ecological architecture and urbanism, alongside participatory place-making processes, and immersive “learning-by-doing” or “learning-by-living” pedagogies. On behalf of IAAC, he further serves as a Founding Partner of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) Academy, which represents the European Commission’s flagship platform to “train, upskill, and reskill the construction ecosystem to achieve a carbon-neutral building sector and a beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive transformation of the built environment”.
Michael’s career has harmonised environmental, social, and technological forces through the planning, design, and implementation of water infrastructures in rural Rwanda (2012 - 2014); net-zero neighbourhoods and mixed-use urban infill developments in the USA (2014 - 2018); and prototypical engineered timber buildings, public spaces, and future “biocities” in Spain (2018 - present), amongst numerous other constructions. All together, his more than 7 years of design+build higher education experience – plus 5 years of professional practice outside academia – have resulted in over 75 built structures to date across the USA, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Many of Michael’s projects earned prestigious awards, including the Gold Prize in Architectural Design from the 2025 Design Educates Awards.
His publications include research in peer-reviewed journals, and books such as Springer Nature's Transforming Biocities: Designing Urban Spaces Inspired by Nature (2023) commissioned by the European Forest Institute (EFI), alongside reports on bio-based social housing for the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), whilst his built works have featured in popular media outlets like the The New York Times (2021).
Publications
Selected Publications:
Salka, M., Guallart, V., & Ibañez, D. (forthcoming, 2026). From Forest to Future: The Valldaura Labs immersive approach to timber architecture. In M. Jones, R. Ng, R. Sara, & H. Vowles (Eds.), Unknowing Architecture: Lessons from the Edges of Architecture Education. Routledge.
Salka, M., Shah, D. U., & Steemers, K. (forthcoming, 2025). Social-ecological Networks for Built Environment Production: A systematic review. Building Research & Information.
Bugarin, J., Correal, E., Ferrer, C., Guallart, V., Ibañez, D., Jimeno, I., Riola, F., Salka, M., & Santana, A. (2024). Informe 2023-2024 Mass Madera Red española para el impulso del uso de madera maciza industrializada en España. Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia. https://massmadera.org/informe-2023-24-mass-madera/
Guallart, V., Ibañez, D., & Salka, M. (2024, March 25). MO.CA Mobile House / IAAC. ArchDaily. https://www.archdaily.com/1014885/ma-mobile-house-iaac
Aquilué Junyent, I., Caicedo Mafla, M. A., Casorrán, S., Ferorelli, R., Guallart, V., Ibáñez, D., Moreno Sanz, J., Ojeda, M., Paez, R., Pagès, L., Salka, M., Alapont, J. L., Bono, J. A., Carli, P., Cruz, P. J. S., De Rossi, M., Fontes, A., Figueiredo, B., Galindo González, J., … Vaneva, L. (2023). FURNISH: New methodologies to intervene in public space. CARNET Future Mobility Research Hub. https://doi.org/10.5821/ebook-9788419184764
Guallart, V., Salka, M., Ibañez, D., Salbitano, F., Fares, S., Sæbo, A., Boeri, S., Shamir, L., De Marco, L., Paoli, S., Pastore, M. C., Wilkes-Allemann, J., Brantschen, E. C., & Živojinović, I. (2023). Towards the Development of a Conceptual Framework of BioCities. In G. E. Scarascia-Mugnozza, V. Guallart, F. Salbitano, G. Ottaviani Aalmo, & S. Boeri (Eds.), Transforming Biocities: Designing Urban Spaces Inspired by Nature (pp. 1–25). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29466-2_1
Ibañez, D., Gomez Luque, M., Salka, M., & Cadena, B. (2023). Vivienda y Desarollo Urbano Inclusivo y Resiliente en Ecuador: Avances, Dasfíos y Oportunidades. World Bank.
Ibañez, D., Gomez Luque, M., Salka, M., & Gallego, A. (2023). Vivienda Biomaterial en América Latina y el Caribe. Inter-American Development Bank. https://iaac.net/projects/biomaterial-housing-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean-report/
Ibañez, D., Salka, M., Guallart, V., Boeri, S., Shamir, L., De Marco, M. L., Paoli, S., Pastore, M. C., Fragiacomo, M., Gobakken, L. R., & Boulet, S. (2023). Innovative Design, Materials, and Construction Models for BioCities. In G. E. Scarascia-Mugnozza, V. Guallart, F. Salbitano, G. Ottaviani Aalmo, & S. Boeri (Eds.), Transforming Biocities: Designing Urban Spaces Inspired by Nature (pp. 183–215). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29466-2_8
Salka, M., Guallart, V., Ibañez, D., Rodriguez, D. G. P., Picard, N., Wilkes-Allemann, J., Brantschen, E. C., Boeri, S., Shamir, L., De Marco, L., Paoli, S., Pastore, M. C., & Živojinović, I. (2023). The Enabling Environment for BioCities. In G. E. Scarascia-Mugnozza, V. Guallart, F. Salbitano, G. Ottaviani Aalmo, & S. Boeri (Eds.), Transforming Biocities: Designing Urban Spaces Inspired by Nature (pp. 265–282). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29466-2_11
Salka, M., Ibañez, D., & Guallart, V. (2023, April 12). FLORA Forest Lab for Observational Research and Analysis | Biodiversity. Roca Gallery. https://www.rocagallery.com/articles/flora-forest-lab-observational-rese...
Ibañez, D., Guallart, V., & Salka, M. (2022). On Pedagogical Prototyping of Advanced Ecological Buildings and BioCities at Valldaura Labs. AGATHÓN | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, 11. https://www.agathon.it/agathon/article/view/298
Guallart, V., Ibañez, D., & Salka, M. (2021, March 15). The Voxel Quarantine Cabin / Valldaura Labs. ArchDaily. https://www.archdaily.com/958366/the-voxel-quarantine-cabin-valldaura-labs
Guallart, V., Ibañez, D., Salka, M., & Capra Ribeiro, F. (2021). Biociudad: Modelo para la aplicación de los principios de la bioeconomía circular en la Área Metropolitana de Barcelona. Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia.
Perriccioli, M., Ruggiero, R., & Salka, M. (2021). Ecology and digital technologies: Small-scale architecture as a place of connections. AGATHÓN | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, 10, 36–45. www.agathon.it. https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/1032021
Adams, M., Ferraro, M., Gantert, P., Lee, T., May, C., Peters, A., Salka, M., & Hickcox, A. (2013). Differential Vulnerability and Environmental Justice: A Preliminary Report on the 2013 Boulder Floods. HazLit.
Selected Features:
CORA Wins Gold Prize at Design Educates Awards 2025 (2025). IAAC. https://iaac.net/cora-gold-prize-design-educates-awards-2025/
Learning from the past to make better buildings for the future (2025). Gates Cambridge Trust. https://www.gatescambridge.org/about/news/learning-from-the-past-to-make-better-buildings-for-the-future/
Solving Problems in Beautiful Ways (2025). The Darwinian. Darwin College. https://www.darwin.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Darwinian-WEB-JAN25.pdf
16 Global Design Concepts for an Unpredictable Future (2021). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/28/arts/design/designers-global-challenges.html
Selected Presentations:
From Forest to Future: the IAAC approach to sustainable timber architecture (2025). Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia Global Summer School, Barcelona, Spain. https://globalschool.iaac.net/gss_global-lectures/
Advanced Ecological Architectures & BioCities (2024). National University of Singapore Cities Public Lecture Series, Singapore. https://cde.nus.edu.sg/nuscities/public-lecture-series/
Sustainable Lifespan (2024). TU Delft Anatomy of Timber / Building Forum, Delft, Netherlands. https://www.aanmelder.nl/anatomyoftimber2024/home
Nature and the City – What Can Drammen Learn from Barcelona? (2024). Drammen Property Days 2024, Drammen, Norway. https://www.eiendomsdagen.drammen.no
Designing and Fabricating Advanced Ecological Buildings & Biocities (2023). Build: From High to Low Tech, Casa da Arquitectura, Porto, Portugal. https://www.buildporto.com/
Prototyping Advanced Ecological Buildings and their Nature-Based Value Chains (2022). Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy Inaugural Summer Symposium, Cambridge, UK. https://www.energy.cam.ac.uk/events/cambridge-zero-postgraduate-academys-inaugural-student-summer-symposium
The Niu Haus (2019). AIA Continental Europe Conference, Brussels, Belgium. https://www.aiaeurope.org/past-events/2019/10/3/aia-continental-europe-conference-brussels-l
