Martin Bechthold
Director of the Doctor of Design Studies Program and the Master in Design Engineering Program
Kumagai Professor of Architectural Technology

Bechthold is Director of the Doctor of Design Program, director of the GSD's Technology Platform, and Associate Faculty at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. He teaches courses in design robotics and material systems, building structures, as well as life cycle design. Recent courses include CeramicsLab, the TRACES option studio, Analysis and Design of Building Structures I and II, as well as Nano, Micro, Macro: Adaptive Materials Laboratory (cross-listed with Harvard's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences).
Bechthold received a Diplom-Ingenieur degree in architecture from the Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule in Aachen, Germany, and a Doctor of Design Degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is a registered architect in Germany and has practiced in London, Paris, and Hamburg. During this period he was associated with firms such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Santiago Calatrava and von Gerkan, Marg & Partner.
Bechthold’s research broadly looks at material and fabrication technology as a catalyst of innovation for design practice. In 2010 he founded the GSD’s Design Robotics Group and recently merged it into the Material Processes and Systems (MaPS) Group, a collaboration of faculty, research associates, and students that pursues sponsored and other research projects. MaPS's current research focuses on integrating robotic technology into fabrication and construction processes, developing advanced material systems in collaboration with industry partners and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, and understanding problems of lifecycle design in (building) products. Bechthold is co-author of Structures and Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing as well as the author of Innovative Surface Structures. His latest book is Ceramic Material Systems.
Courses
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Discourse and Research Methods
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Thesis Extension in Satisfaction of Degree Doctor of Design
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Thesis in Satisfaction of Degree Doctor of Design
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Structural Design II
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Thesis Extension in Satisfaction of Degree Doctor of Design
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Thesis in Satisfaction of Degree Doctor of Design
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Preparation of Doctoral Thesis Proposal
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Independent Design Engineering Project I
Publications
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Innovative Surface Structures: Technologies and Applications
By Martin Bechthold
June 2008
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Dance Space: Choreographing a Mobile Theatre
By Martin Bechthold
February 2008
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Traces
By Martin Bechthold and Allen Sayegh
January 2008
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Surface Structures in the Digital Age
By Martin Bechthold
August 2006
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New Technologies in Architecture II & III: Digital Design and Manufacturing Technique
By Martin Bechthold
September 2003
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Coffee, Cake, CAD/CAM: Reinventing the Urban Diner
By Martin Bechthold
January 2003
Projects
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Ceramic Futures
By Martin Bechthold
Fall 2010
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Mobile Information Unit
Allen Sayegh and Martin Bechthold, Principal Investigators
Fall 2008
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Concrete Origami
By Martin Bechthold
Spring 2006
Exhibitions
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Life Cycle Design
Martin Bechthold, Curator
OCT 8 – NOV 11, 2012
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Ceramic Futures 1.0: Robotic Fabrication for Daylighting Design
Martin Bechthold, Curator
APR 27, 2016 – JUN 27, 2010
Events
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CANCELLED – Thresholds: Design and Science
Allen Sayegh and Martin Bechthold, Hosts
January 21, 2020