Assist. Prof. Jonathan Natanian -

Principal Researcher and Lab Head

Contanct: Jonathann@technion.ac.il

Dr. Jonathan Natanian is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, the Technion, and the head of EPDL – the Environmental Performance and Design Laboratory. He holds a master’s degree in Sustainable Environmental Design from the AA in London which he received after practicing as a senior architect for several years in Israel. Jonathan holds a PhD (summa cum laude) from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), where Jonathan developed computational workflows to explore the correlation between dense urban morphology and environmental performance in hot climates. At EPDL jonathan investigates the boundary between environmental engineering and architectural design to establish a bridge between those disciplines in a cross-contextual, multi-scale and cross-disciplinary way. Since 2014 Jonathan is leading StudioADAPT – a research-based consultancy through which he is exploring the architectural applicability and spatial expression of his research on environmental performance in practice.

Research interests:

Environmental quality driven urban design
Generative urban design
Zero energy buildings and districts
Performance-based design using digital tools
Environmental workspace design
Passive low carbon design strategies

Publications

Journal Publications

Bradecki, T., Uherek-Bradecka, B., Tofiluk, A., Laar, M., & Natanian, J. (2024). Towards Sustainable Education by Design: Evaluating Pro-Ecological Architectural Solutions in Centers for Environmental Education. Sustainability, 16(12), 5053.

Natanian, J., Guarino, F., Manapragada, N., Magyari, A., Naboni, E., De Luca, F., ... & Reith, A. (2024). Ten questions on tools and methods for positive energy districts. Building and Environment, 111429.

De Luca, F., Natanian, J., & Wortmann, T. (2024). Ten questions concerning environmental architectural design exploration. Building and Environment, 111697.

Natanian, J. (2023). Optimizing mixed-use district designs in hot climates: A two-phase computational workflow for energy balance and environmental performance. Sustainable Cities and Society, 98, 104800.

Manapragada, N. V. S. K., & Natanian, J. (2023). Parametric Integration of CFD-based Wind Pressure Coefficients into Building Energy Models: A Novel Workflow. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 2600, No. 3, p. 032011). IOP Publishing.

Wortmann, T., & Natanian, J. (2021). Optimizing solar access and density in Tel Aviv: Benchmarking multi-objective optimization algorithms. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 2042, No. 1, p. 012066). IOP Publishing.

Natanian, J., De Luca, F., Wortmann, T., & Capeluto, G. (2021). The Solar Block Generator: an additive parametric method for solar driven urban block design. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 2042, No. 1, p. 012049). IOP Publishing.

Natanian, J., & Wortmann, T. (2021). Simplified evaluation metrics for generative energy-driven urban design: A morphological study of residential blocks in Tel Aviv. Energy and Buildings, 240, 110916.‏

Natanian, J., Kastner, P., Dogan, T., & Auer, T. (2020). From energy performative to livable Mediterranean cities: An annual outdoor thermal comfort and energy balance cross-climatic typological study. Energy and Buildings, 224, 110283.

Natanian, J., & Auer, T. (2020). Beyond nearly zero energy urban design: A holistic microclimatic energy and environmental quality evaluation workflow. Sustainable Cities and Society, 56, 102094.

Natanian, J., Maiullari, D., Yezioro, A., & Auer, T. (2019). Synergetic urban microclimate and energy simulation parametric workflow. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1343, 012006.

Natanian, J., Aleksandrowicz, O., & Auer, T. (2019). A parametric approach to optimizing urban form, energy balance and environmental quality: The case of Mediterranean districts. Applied Energy, 254, 113637.

Naboni, E., Natanian, J., Brizzi, G., Florio, P., Chokhachian, A., Galanos, T., & Rastogi, P. (2019). A digital workflow to quantify regenerative urban design in the context of a changing climate. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 113, 109255.

Natanian, J., & Auer, T. (2018). Balancing urban density, energy performance and environmental quality in the Mediterranean: a typological evaluation based on photovoltaic potential. Energy Procedia, 152, 1103-1108.

Natanian, J., & Aleksandrowicz, O. (2018). Environmental Education of an Architect: The case of Final-Year Design Studio at the Technion, Israel. International Journal of Architectural Research: ArchNet-IJAR, 12(1), 356.

Book chapters

Natanian, J. (2019). Communal and Biophilic Principles in Regenerative Projects. In Regenerative design in digital practice: a handbook for the built environment, 370-375. Bolzano: EURAC Research.

Conference papers

Natanian, J., De Luca, F., & Naboni, E. (2022). From Repetition to Diversity: A Workflow for Energy-Driven Optimization of Heterogeneous Urban Blocks in Hot Climates. In Proceedings of the 36th International Conference Passive and Low Energy Architecture—PLEA (pp. 842-847).

Wortmann, T., & Natanian, J. (2020). Multi-Objective Optimization for Zero-Energy Urban Design in China: A Benchmark. In SimAUD 2020: Symposium on Simulation in Architecture and Urban Design, 2020, Vienna, Austria.

Natanian, J. (2018). Zero Energy Buildings in the Mediterranean: Typological Feasibility Analysis towards an Israeli Adaptation. In the International Conference on Passive Low Energy Architecture (PLEA), 2018, Hong Kong.

Natanian, J., & Aleksandrowicz, O. (2017). Articulation, space and sustainability A report on diploma student projects at the Technion, Israel. In the International Conference on Passive Low Energy Architecture (PLEA), 2017, Edinburgh, UK.

Natanian, J. (2014). ‘The Open-Air Office’, Climatic adaptation of the office building typology in the Mediterranean. In: ‘Design to Thrive’, the International Conference on Passive Low Energy Architecture (PLEA), 2014, Ahmedabad, India.

Published scientific reports and technical papers

Natanian, J. (2016). Towards Zero Energy Buildings in Israel: Models, criteria and methodology towards a road map for local adaptation. Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design for the Israeli Ministry of Environmental protection.

Kot, H., & Natanian, J. (2014). Costs and Savings of Green Building in Office Buildings in Israel. The Israeli Green Building Council for the Israeli Ministry of Environmental protection.

Pelman, B., Ella, E., & Natanian J. (2014). Green building and Urban Design. Bezalel Research and Innovation Authority, Bezalel Academy of art and design for the Israeli Ministry of Environmental protection.

Schwatz, K., Pelman, B., Daniel, R., & Natanian, J. (2014). Implementation of the Israeli green building code in dense residential schemes. The Israeli Green Building Council for the Israeli Ministry of Environmental protection.