Lola Ben Alon – Moderator

Lola Ben-Alon is a material designer, engineer, and curator. She is an Assistant Professor at Columbia GSAPP, where she directs the Natural Materials Lab and coordinates the Building Science and Technology curriculum. Her work focuses on earth- and bio-based materials, their craft, fabrication techniques, environmental life cycles, supply chain ecologies, and policy. Ben-Alon holds a Ph.D. from the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, a B.S. in Structural Engineering, and an M.S. in Construction Management from the Technion. Her work has been exhibited at venues including the Craft Contemporary Museum in Los Angeles, London Craft Week, the Indian Ceramics Triennial, Tallinn Architecture Biennale, the Center for Mediterranean Architecture in Greece, the Architecture Center Houston, and the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art. Her research has been widely published in peer-reviewed journals such as Building and Environment, Construction and Building Materials, Journal of Green Building, and Automation in Construction. Her work has also been featured in design magazines such as Metropolis and The Architect’s Newspaper. In 2024, she was awarded the Architectural League of New York Prize.