RVTR: Research, Vision, Transformation, Realization

R

ESEARCH

V

ISION

T

RANSFORMATION

R

EALIZATION

Reaching beyond the boundaries of what is to explore the possibilities of what could be.

Reaching beyond the boundaries of what is to explore the possibilities of what could be.

All projects

Notion, Turkey

Resonant Chamber

Pavilions at Notion

Latitudo Borealis

Research lab / University of Michigan

Research lab / University of Michigan

RVTR is a practice-based design research lab led by Geoffrey Thün and Kathy Velikov that serves as a platform for expanding the boundaries of architectural and urban inquiry.

Infra Eco Logi Urbanism, RVTR

We explore what material systems, urban infrastructures, and territories could become through systems-based approaches, prototyping, speculation, and visualization. Our work advances environmentally responsive, technologically enabled, built environments, architectural material assemblies, resilient multifunctional urban infrastructures, and territorial practices for decarbonization. Our work is funded through federal, institutional, and industry partners. We collaborate with planners, landscape architects, scientists, engineers, archaeologists, industry, and other labs nationally and globally.


Team

Team

The Stratus Project, RVTR
North House, RVTR
North House, RVTR

Selected projects

Selected projects

Prototypes, territories, buildings and exhibitions from the lab’s current and recent research.

Becoming Biomass, image 1

Becoming Biomass

2022–2024

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Becoming Biomass, image 1

Becoming Biomass

2022–2024

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Pavilions at Notion, image 1

Pavilions at Notion

2018–2019

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Pavilions at Notion, image 1

Pavilions at Notion

2018–2019

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Resonant Chamber, image 1

Resonant Chamber

2011–2013

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Resonant Chamber, image 1

Resonant Chamber

2011–2013

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North House, image 1

North House

2008–2010

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North House, image 1

North House

2008–2010

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Transect: 31°52′11″ N, 111°07′29″ W to 37°04′42″ N, 116°01′49″ W, image 1

Transect: 31°52′11″ N, 111°07′29″ W to 37°04′42″ N, 116°01′49″ W

2025

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Transect: 31°52′11″ N, 111°07′29″ W to 37°04′42″ N, 116°01′49″ W, image 1

Transect: 31°52′11″ N, 111°07′29″ W to 37°04′42″ N, 116°01′49″ W

2025

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Infundibuliforms, image 1

Infundibuliforms

2015–2016

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Infundibuliforms, image 1

Infundibuliforms

2015–2016

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All projects

All projects

Several lines of inquiry run through the work: from material prototypes to urban systems.

Research threads

Territories and Urban Systems

01

Territories and Regional Systems

Design research at the scale of the region: mapping, scenarios, and infrastructures for decarbonized and climate-adaptive futures, from the Great Lakes Megaregion to the Tennessee Valley.

02

Responsive Envelopes and Material Systems

Full-scale prototypes of building skins that sense, move and respond to air, light, heat and sound, including Stratus, Resonant Chamber, PneuSystems and Infundibuliforms.

03

Buildings and Prototypes

Building designs, competitions, and full-scale building prototypes that explore innovative construction techniques, from North House at the 2009 Solar Decathlon to the Common Health+ Eye Care Clinics in Jamaica.

04

Exhibitions and Installations

Exhibition design, installations, and touring shows, including the Infra Eco Logi Urbanism traveling exhibition and EXTRACTION for the Canadian Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale.

Buildings and Prototypes

05

Urban Infrastructures and Landscapes

Design of polyfunctional urban infrastructures and couple social infrastructures with resilient urban spaces, from prototypes for multi-modal urban access hubs to Nature-based solutions.

06

Field Research

Fieldwork-based survey, site analysis, and planning, from an ongoing collaboration with archaeologists on the ancient Ionian city of Notion, Türkiye to fieldwork in the American Southwest and borderlands.

Several lines of inquiry run through the work: from material prototypes to urban systems.

Research threads

01

Territories and Regional Systems

Design research at the scale of the region: mapping, scenarios, and infrastructures for decarbonized and climate-adaptive futures, from the Great Lakes Megaregion to the Tennessee Valley.

02

Responsive Envelopes and Material Systems

Full-scale prototypes of building skins that sense, move and respond to air, light, heat and sound, including Stratus, Resonant Chamber, PneuSystems and Infundibuliforms.

03

Buildings and Prototypes

Building designs, competitions, and full-scale building prototypes that explore innovative construction techniques, from North House at the 2009 Solar Decathlon to the Common Health+ Eye Care Clinics in Jamaica.

04

Exhibitions and Installations

Exhibition design, installations, and touring shows, including the Infra Eco Logi Urbanism traveling exhibition and EXTRACTION for the Canadian Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale.

05

Urban Infrastructures and Landscapes

Design of polyfunctional urban infrastructures and couple social infrastructures with resilient urban spaces, from prototypes for multi-modal urban access hubs to Nature-based solutions.

06

Field Research

Fieldwork-based survey, site analysis, and planning, from an ongoing collaboration with archaeologists on the ancient Ionian city of Notion, Türkiye to fieldwork in the American Southwest and borderlands.

All projects

Several lines of inquiry run through the work: from material prototypes to urban systems.

Research threads

Territories and Urban Systems

01

Territories and Regional Systems

Design research at the scale of the region: mapping, scenarios, and infrastructures for decarbonized and climate-adaptive futures, from the Great Lakes Megaregion to the Tennessee Valley.

02

Responsive Envelopes and Material Systems

Full-scale prototypes of building skins that sense, move and respond to air, light, heat and sound, including Stratus, Resonant Chamber, PneuSystems and Infundibuliforms.

03

Buildings and Prototypes

Building designs, competitions, and full-scale building prototypes that explore innovative construction techniques, from North House at the 2009 Solar Decathlon to the Common Health+ Eye Care Clinics in Jamaica.

04

Exhibitions and Installations

Exhibition design, installations, and touring shows, including the Infra Eco Logi Urbanism traveling exhibition and EXTRACTION for the Canadian Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale.

Buildings and Prototypes

05

Urban Infrastructures and Landscapes

Design of polyfunctional urban infrastructures and couple social infrastructures with resilient urban spaces, from prototypes for multi-modal urban access hubs to Nature-based solutions.

06

Field Research

Fieldwork-based survey, site analysis, and planning, from an ongoing collaboration with archaeologists on the ancient Ionian city of Notion, Türkiye to fieldwork in the American Southwest and borderlands.

2025

AIA College of Fellows, Kathy Velikov

AIA College of Fellows, Kathy Velikov

2017

AZ Award, Social Good, EXTRACTION

AZ Award, Social Good, EXTRACTION

2011

RAIC Award of Excellence for Innovation in the Practice of Architecture, North House

RAIC Award of Excellence for Innovation in the Practice of Architecture, North House

2010

Architect R+D Award of Excellence, North House

Architect R+D Award of Excellence, North House

2009

Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture, Canada Council for the Arts

Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture, Canada Council for the Arts

Recognition

Recognition

Awards, prizes, fellowships and funded research.

All recognition

All recognition

Resonant Chamber
North House, 2009 Solar Decathlon, Washington DC

Publications

Publications

Books, journal articles, catalogs and proceedings in which RVTR’s work appears.

TAD Journal 9:1: Generative

Journal article

2025

JAE Vol. 78, Issue 2

Journal article

2024

Design for Rethinking Resources

Proceedings

2023

Architecture_MPS Vol. 25: Media, Politics, Society

Journal article

2023

Next New York

Book chapter

2023

The Routledge Companion to Ecological Design Thinking: Healthful Ecotopian Visions for Architecture and Urbanism

Book chapter

2023

All publications

All publications

News

News

Lectures, exhibitions, appointments and press.

Arid Logics studio receives a Tulane Prize Honorable Achievement

Award

June 5, 2026

Arid Logics studio receives a Tulane Prize Honorable Achievement

Award

June 5, 2026

Responsive Envelopes | Regional Transitions: lecture at the University of Innsbruck

Lecture

May 26, 2026

Responsive Envelopes | Regional Transitions: lecture at the University of Innsbruck

Lecture

May 26, 2026

When It Rains, It Floods: Portico on the Southeast Michigan stormwater project

Press

May 20, 2026

When It Rains, It Floods: Portico on the Southeast Michigan stormwater project

Press

May 20, 2026

All news

All news

See all

See all