Michael Pawlyn – Keynote Speaker

Architect noted for his work in the field biomimetic architecture and innovation

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Specialist Subjects

From sustainable to regenerative – the next essential shift for business
Biologically-inspired innovation
Rising to the challenge of the planetary emergency
How change happens and how to transform our agency

Topics

Language

English

Biography

Michael Pawlyn has been described as an expert in regenerative design and biomimicry. He established his firm Exploration Architecture in 2007 to focus on high performance buildings and solutions for the circular economy. The company has developed a ground-breaking office project, an ultra-low energy data centre, a zero waste textiles factory and progressive solutions for green cities.

Prior to setting up Exploration, he worked with Grimshaw for ten years and was central to the team that designed the Eden Project. He is regularly booked as a keynote speaker on innovation and his TED talk has had over 2 million viewings.

Michael jointly initiated the widely acclaimed Sahara Forest Project; the latest version of which was opened by the King of Jordan in 2017. In 2019 he co-initiated ‘Architects Declare a Climate & Biodiversity Emergency’ which has spread internationally with over 7,000 companies signed up to addressing the planetary crisis.

Since 2018 he has been increasingly providing advice to national governments and large companies on transformative change. His book Biomimicry in Architecture has been RIBA Publications’ best-selling title. His latest book, titled Flourish: Design Paradigms for Our Planetary Emergency, co-authored with Sarah Ichioka, was published by Triarchy Press in December 2021.

Recent testimonials

“One of the finest talks I've ever seen on nature and design.”

“We asked Michael to give an opening keynote for our most important event of 2022 - a three-day conference attended by 250 of our most senior colleagues. He rose to the challenge brilliantly with a talk that was informative, inspiring and energising.”

“Your talk was a tremendous inspiration to all and the response has been fantastic. Personally it was the best presentation I have ever experienced - thank you Michael.”

“Michael was fantastic! The audience absolutely loved his lecture. Couldn’t have been a better way to launch the series.”

“We had excellent feedback on your talk. It was a highlight of the conference and one person said it was the most important presentation they’d seen in the last 10 years.”

“We just wanted to send a quick note to thank you again so much for your brilliant address at yesterday’s Heat Conference. I’ve heard nothing but praise for your presentation. It really helped to energise the whole day: some have even said it was the best Heat Conference we’ve had!"

“Michael, Thank you! It was a very inspiring talk and you received very positive feedback from many of the participants. Well done!”

"Michael was excellent. There was lots of glowing verbal feedback on him with a lot of questions at the end. Personally, I really love the positive and practical approach to sustainability that he promotes and the sheer beauty of nature which he expresses through his excellent slides. Very well done."

“Thank you for your contribution at the CE100 Annual Summit, the feedback has been exceptional with many people commenting that your talk was a particular highlight.”

“Thanks so much for coming to speak at our event yesterday. You did a fantastic job. A lot of people mentioned to me how much they appreciated your talk.”

“I thought it was the best session of the conference. You were calm, rational, evidential and forceful. Thank you for taking up the challenge so well.”

“Two of the cultural stand-outs of the year were the products of visionaries — individuals creating worlds at the edges and the in-betweens of standard practice. A lecture by Michael Pawlyn during the London Festival of Architecture energised the audience with case studies demonstrating the radical potential of a generative, rather than a restrictive, approach to design that surpasses “sustainability”."

“In addition to his skills as an architect he is a first rate public speaker who both assisted me in preparing lectures and regularly stood in for me at international conferences. I could always trust Michael to inspire an audience to look at the environmental debate from a fresh perspective and he would achieve this through wit and imagination rather than dogma and doom-mongering.”