Mehdi Ashayeri | SIU

Architectural Studies

Mehdi Ashayeri is an architect, engineer, researcher, and educator. He earned his Ph.D. in Architecture, Technologies of the Built Environment, at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).

Research Interests

Ashayeri’s research centers at the intersection of sustainability, human systems, and computation in the built environment. Much of his work has focused on developing theoretical frameworks to support data-informed decisions for reducing human health risks and energy consumption in the built environment, which has received the 2020 ARCC King Medal for excellence in architecture and environmental research. Ashayeri has published in several premier journals, including Environmental Research, Applied Energy, and Building and Environment, and presented at academic conferences, including the 2019 Art Rosenfeld Symposium on Energy-Efficient and Grid-Interactive Buildings, the so-called “the Next Art Rosenfelds.” Ashayeri has contributed chapters and essays to books such as Architectural Research Addressing Societal Challenges. In 2019, Ashayeri served as a researcher in the Sustainable Urban Systems workshop for developing research agendas for Chicago’s Climate Action Plan. Ashayeri co-organized the 4th annual Symposium of the IIT College of Architecture-ARCC with the theme of ‘Buildings, Cities, and Performance’ and served as an editor for Prometheus Journal, issue 04, which received the 2020 Haskell Award from AIA New York, Center for Architecture. Ashayeri has practiced as an architect and leader at several architecture and design-build firms in New York City, Chicago, and Tehran. He has worked on projects ranging from large-scale and tall building design to highly detailed design development for landmark projects.