Naomi Keena, architect and interdisciplinary researcher, is Assistant Professor at McGill University’s Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture. Keena’s research focuses on broadening the space and time upon which we consider architectural and urban design, to understand both the work of the techno-sphere in constructing our urban environments and that of the geo-biosphere in sustaining such development. She combines life cycle approaches to design with data visualization and computational techniques as a means to assess socio-ecological factors in architecture and to transform complex data streams into organized knowledge. Keena has published and presented her research widely in the areas of architecture, data visualization, life cycle approaches and circular economy, design-driven interdisciplinary research, and environmental policy.

Her doctoral research focused on implementing annotated, data visual analytics as a means to investigate the material and energy lifespan of buildings during the early stages of architectural design. She is a co-founder of Clark’s Crow, a parametric tool that aims to promote awareness of the impact of different design options through a biophysically- based ecological accounting method in the early stages of design -development. She is also a co-founder of SEVA (Socio-Ecological Visual Analytics), a proposed new conceptual network of analytical techniques designed to quantify, visualize, characterize, and communicate socio-ecological factors within architectural designs. Her doctoral research on SEVA was part of a large interdisciplinary effort named “‘Data Journey” (DJ) which received three grant awards from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and was showcased at the international Grand Challenges meetings in New Delhi, London, and Washington D.C.

Keena’s current research investigates visual analytics combined with transformative building technologies as a means to study socio-ecological factors within architectural design, towards the mitigation of adverse environmental impacts. She demonstrated this research through the Ecological Living Module (ELM) built project at the United Nation Plaza, NY Summer 2018 as part of CEA in collaboration with Gray Organschi Architecture (GOA), Yale University, and UN Environment; as well as through Yale CEA’s BEEM lab immersive visualization environment at Yale School of Architecture. Prior to her Ph.D. studies, Keena worked in professional practice with internationally renowned firms in both the US and Europe and taught at the School of Architecture, University of Sheffield, UK. Keena is a Fulbright Fellowship recipient and has published and presented her design research widely in the areas of architecture, computer science, data visualization, design-driven interdisciplinary research, and environmental policy.