Dr Lisa Moffitt
Dr. Lisa Moffitt is an Associate Professor of Architecture and Associate Director of
Graduate programs at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. She is a member of the editorial board for Technology | Architecture + Design journal. She is currently a visiting researcher at the University of Edinburgh.
Her research uses physical models and material experiments to visualise climate change-driven environmental systems and low-carbon construction practices. Her book, Architecture’s Model Environments (UCL Press, 2023) sheds light on how physical models conventionally understood as engineering experimentation devices enable architectural design speculation about airflow and building environmental mediation. Her current research explores Canadian sites of accelerated climate change and tectonics of natural building materials.
Her work has been exhibited internationally and has been widely published in journals including Journal of Landscape Architecture (JoLA), Architecture and Culture, Architectural Research Quarterly (Arq), Journal of Architectural Education (JAE), Venti: Air, Experience, and Aesthetics, among others.
Her solo exhibition, Architecture’s Model Environments, is currently travelling in the USA, and has been exhibited in the UK and Canada.
Lisa's Pieces for Forgotten Fleece Tales
Lisa has contributed a series of four sculptural pieces, offering a fresh and sustainable take on a historic building technique: fibre-reinforced earthen walls. For centuries in Scotland, natural fibres were combined with subsoil to create durable, load-bearing structures, but many of these practices faded during the Industrial Revolution. As the need for environmentally-conscious building grows, there’s a renewed interest in local, low-carbon, and toxin-free materials.
Lisa's sculptures use wool fleece sourced from a student’s family farm in Northumberland as a fibre additive to stabilise compressed earth, enhancing its strength and insulation. The wool also lends the pieces an intriguing texture that invites touch and sparks curiosity. Each piece combines compressed earth and wool with other regenerative materials like wood, thatch, and hemp, suggesting sustainable ways to assemble buildings with locally available resources.
Part architectural model, part material experiment, these sculptures bridge the gap between tradition and innovation. They propose a contemporary approach to ancient building techniques, offering a vision of how regenerative materials could shape a more sustainable future for construction.