Design for Wildfire school

A new school of design thought

After years of researching at the intersection of design, ecology, and the fire sciences, with the support of estimeed peers and partners, Iater this year I’ll be launching Design for Wildfire school.

An unprecedented hybrid virtual meets pop-up model, it’ll be the world’s first design school dedicated to finding nature-inspired solutions to the problem of living with wildfire.

This school isn’t just about architecture, urban design, planning, and policymaking, it’s about rethinking how we live with fire — not as an enemy, but as a natural force we can design with, not against. At the heart of our curriculum is Pyrophytic Architecture™, my framework for creating built environments inspired by the species and systems that have evolved to thrive in fire-prone regions.

Design for Wildfire school’s offer will include online masterclasses and lectures led by global experts, pop-up field trips, classes, and workshops in wildfire-prone landscapes, collaborative research and publishing, and more.

The aim is to equip our students with the insight and skills needed to build resilience that’s rooted in leading-edge science, driven by radical design, and shaped by nature itself.

This isn’t a solitary venture. We’re collaborating with leading institutions, researchers, and innovators across disciplines and borders, including some of the most compelling minds in architecture, urban design, materials science, wildfire sensing and modelling, and fire ecology in the United States, United Kingdom, and beyond.

Together, we’re building a community committed to shaping a future in which wildfire isn’t a crisis, but a catalyst for better, more adaptive and intelligent design.

If you work in the built environment, policy, innovation, or education — or simply want to help reimagine our relationship with fire and would like to know more, sign up for updates here.