Martin Bechthold
Kumagai Professor of Architectural Technology
Co-Director of the Doctor in Design Studies Program

On leave for Spring 2024
Martin Bechthold is the founding Co-Director of the Master in Design Engineering Program and the Kumagai Professor of Architectural Technology in the GSD’s Department of Architecture. He is also Associate Faculty at the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) at Harvard, and was long affiliated with the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. He teaches courses in design and research methods, material systems, and building structures. Recent courses include ‘Towards a New Science of Design?’, ‘Structural Design II’, and ‘Independent Design Engineering Project’.
Bechthold received a Diplom-Ingenieur degree in architecture from the Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule in Aachen, Germany, and a Doctor of Design Degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is a registered architect in Germany and has practiced in London, Paris, and Hamburg. During this period he was associated with firms such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Santiago Calatrava and von Gerkan, Marg & Partner.
Bechthold’s research advances the contemporary understanding of material systems with a special interest in computational methods, robotics, advanced 3D printing, and environmental psychology. In 2010 he founded the GSD’s Design Robotics Group and more recently merged it into the Material Processes and Systems (MaP+S) Group, a collaboration of faculty, research associates, and students that pursues sponsored and other research projects. In 2018 he initiated the creation of the Laboratory for Design Technology as a collaborative platform that connects Harvard Faculty and researchers with forward looking thought leaders from industry. MaP+S’s current research focuses on multi-material 3D printing, structural and material innovation in architectural ceramics, carbon negative building materials, and quantifying the perception of buildings.
Bechthold is co-author of Structures and Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing, as well as the author of Innovative Surface Structures. His most recent book is Ceramic Material Systems. Bechthold’s peer reviewed journal papers have been published in widely read journals including Nature Reviews, Advanced Functional Materials, and Energy and Buildings. He holds multiple patents on material innovations.
Courses
Publications
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Innovative Surface Structures: Technologies and Applications
By Martin Bechthold
June 2008
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Dance Space: Choreographing a Mobile Theatre
By Martin Bechthold
February 2008
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Traces
Martin Bechthold and Allen Sayegh
January 2008
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Surface Structures in the Digital Age
By Martin Bechthold
August 2006
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New Technologies in Architecture II & III: Digital Design and Manufacturing Technique
By Martin Bechthold
September 2003
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Coffee, Cake, CAD/CAM: Reinventing the Urban Diner
By Martin Bechthold
January 2003
Projects
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Ceramic Futures
Martin Bechthold
Fall 2010
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Mobile Information Unit
Allen Sayegh and Martin Bechthold, Principal Investigators
Fall 2008
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Concrete Origami
Martin Bechthold
Spring 2006
Exhibitions
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Life Cycle Design
Martin Bechthold, Curator
OCT 8 – NOV 11, 2012
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Ceramic Futures 1.0: Robotic Fabrication for Daylighting Design
Martin Bechthold, Curator
APR 27, 2016 – JUN 27, 2010
Events
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CANCELLED – Thresholds: Design and Science
Allen Sayegh and Martin Bechthold, Hosts