David Correa

Associate Professor, School of Architecture 

Dr David Correa's research looks at biological structures and processes as a source of insight for the development of new fabrication processes and advanced materials. The research aims at implementing state of the art digital fabrication tools (robotic manipulators, 3D printers and CNC milling) to develop innovative and high-performance design solutions for industrial and architectural applications. Current inter-disciplinary research initiatives include weather responsive shape active facade components (in collaboration with BASF and Plant Biomechanics group at Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg), large scale bio-based cellulose 3D printing (University of British Columbia) and advanced robotic fabrication of timber structures (Centre for Advanced Wood Processing and School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture, UBC). David is a Design Partner at llLab, an experimental design collaboration based in Shanghai. David completed his Bachelor of Architectural Sciences at Toronto Metropolitan University, his Masters of Architecture at the University of Calgary and his Doctorate of Engineering at the University of Stuttgart.  

Graduate Supervision:  

David Supervises graduate students withing the masters and doctoral programs in Architecture and Engineering.  His students have been investigating the role of biological structures in the development of environmentally aware products and processes for building construction.  

Selected Publications:

• Le Duigou, Antoine; Correa, David (2022): 4D printing of natural fiber composite. In : Smart Materials in Additive Manufacturing, Volume 1 : 4D Printing Principles and Fabrication: Elsevier, pp. 297–333.  

• Correa, David and Poppinga, Simon and Mylo, Max D. and Westermeier, Anna S. and Bruchmann, Bernd and Menges, Achim and Speck, Thomas, 4D pine scale: biomimetic 4D printed autonomous scale and flap structures capable of multi-phase movement, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, , 2020 

• Poppinga, Simon and Correa, David and Bruchmann, Bernd and Menges, Achim and Speck, Thomas, Plant movements as concept generators for the development of biomimetic compliant mechanisms, Integrative and comparative biology, 886, 2020