Ariel Genadt

Ariel Genadt is an architect, a lecturer, and a scholar. His research and teaching focus on the relationships between construction, technology, sustainability and architectural expression across cultures. He also specializes in modern and contemporary architecture in Japan, reinterpretations of local practices and architectural resilience.  

Genadt holds a PhD in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania (2016), with certificates in Ecological Architecture and University Teaching, a Master of Arts in Histories and Theories from the Architectural Association School, London (2004), and a Bachelor of Architecture cum laude from the Technion, Israel (1997). He was a Fellow Researcher of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science at the Kengo Kuma Lab at Tokyo University (2012), and the first visiting scholar at the Fondazione Renzo Piano, Genoa (2013).

As an architect in practice, he has collaborated on a wide range of buildings, urban design and landscape projects, in France, U.K., Italy, Greece, Israel, Morocco, Senegal, UAE and China. Notable collaborations include: Arcora Envelope and Structural Engineering (Paris), Architect Pierre Louis Faloci (Paris), and Shlomo Aronson Architects (Jerusalem). He has taught architecture at the Weitzman School of Design since 2011, and was a visiting lecturer at Swarthmore College, Ecole nationale supérieure d'architecture de Normandie, Rouen, France, the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris, the Technion, Israel and has led a design-build workshop at Tokyo University. 

Genadt's curatorial work includes:

• The exhibition Critical Abstractions: Modern Architecture in Japan (2018)
• The exhibition Building in China - Associate Curator and Designer (2022)
• The Hometowns Project 2022 – A participatory initiative promoting diversity and belonging for the entire Weitzman Community.
• The web database: 50 Years in Books by Penn Architecture PhDs (2016)

Recent publications include:

• Genadt, Ariel. "Strength in Weakness - Daoist Waters and the Architecture of the Xinjin Zhi Museum" in Anat Geva, ed., Water and Sacred Architecture, Routledge, 2023. pp. 262-278.
• Genadt, Ariel. "Dismantling Architecture Towards Softer Environments: Isozaki Arata's Encounters with Archigram" in M+ Magazine, Aug. 1 2022.
• Genadt, Ariel. "Articulating Valletta's Res Publica Through its Topos" in CIRICE 2020-21 - La Città Palinsesto. The City as Palimpsest. 9th International Congress Proceedings. Napoli 2021.
• Genadt, Ariel. "Laminate Interlock Bolt - Expressive Timber Assembly in Yusuhara" in 16th International DOCOMOMO Conference: Inheritable Resilience - Proceedings. Tokyo, 2021.
• Genadt, Ariel. “Discrete Continuity in the Urban Architectures of Hiroshi Hara and Kengo Kuma” in ACADIA 2020 Distributed Proximities Conference Proceedings. 2020. 
• Genadt, Ariel. “Three Lessons from Japan on Architectural Resilience,” in Architectural Histories / European Architectural History Network, Volume 7, Issue 1 (2019).
• Genadt, Ariel. “Wie weiß ist Tel Aviv?” in Baumeister, B4 / 2019 - Was für ein Zirkus! 100 Jahre Bauhaus; pp.80-87.  

Courses taught at Penn:

• ARCH 8110 - Theories of Architecture – Environments, Techniques and Expressive Means, 2022-2023
• ARCH 7180 - History and Theory of Architecture and Climate, 2023-2024
• ARCH 7120 - Architectural Envelopes – Technology, Climate, Expression. Yearly, since 2015.
• ARCH 7110 - Modern Architecture in Japan: Culture, Place, Tectonics. Yearly, since 2014.
• ARCH 6110 - Architecture of Resilience in Japan, 2022.
• ARCH 704 - Master of Architecture Thesis Advisor 2020-2021.
• ARCH 712 - Visible Cities – Urban Architectures of Tomorrow, 2018.
• 7th LIXIL International Student Competition for a Spa in Hokkaido, Japan. Design charrette, 2017.
• ARCH 411 - Philadelphia’s Reading Viaduct Rehabilitation, 2012.