Galaad Van Daele
is an architect, editor, researcher and educator. His research interests gravitate towards ambiguous spatial objects that challenge the nature-culture boundary, which he approaches by means of writing – between history, science, fiction – and photography.
Since 2026, he serves as Associate Professor (Maître de Conférences) of Theory and Design in Architecture and Urbanism at École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Val de Seine – Université Paris Cité. After several years of practice in Brussels, he previously taught architectural design between 2017 and 2026 at the Chair of Affective Architectures – Studio An Fonteyne at ETH Zurich. In 2025, he completed his doctorate in that same school, with a research project investigating the Grotta Grande – a cave-like building erected in Florence in the 16th century – and focusing on writing a geological history of its materiality. In parallel, he is also one of the editors of Brussels-based architecture and art magazine Accattone since 2018.
Starting from a focus on landscape studies, his research endeavours now tackle the possibility of writing a history of architecture that acknowledges the various layers of geological presence inside built spaces. Creating dialogues between architecture, the earth sciences and the environmental humanities, he seeks transversal modes of thinking about spatial productions and architectural historiographies, beyond the dissociation between the human and the geosphere.
His teaching reflects these intersections, with design courses and seminars that revolve around issues of material history, environmental history and a critique of extractivism, whilst also incorporating reflections on ways of thinking about, writing about and representing these complex issues. He has developed various teaching formats allowing to introduce young designers to geo-centric questions, with courses such as design studio ‘Post-Extractive Landscapes’ (École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Val de Seine); research and design module “Geoarchitectural Histories – A Research Practice” (Design Academy Eindhoven, 2023-24); or travelling seminar “Geocentric Driftings”, taught between Italy, Sardinia and Iceland (ETH, 2022-23).
Recently, he has been a recipient of the endowment of the Grand Prix d’Architecture, awarded by the Académie des Beaux-Arts to Herzog & de Meuron; a resident at Domaine de Frapotel (Pontpoint, 2025), at c/o Bardi (Florence, 2024), and in the ‘Architecture and Landscape’ residency program of Académie des Beaux-Arts – French Academy of Fine Arts at the Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, 2022-23); as well as a visiting fellow at the Kunsthistorisches Institut (Florence, 2024-2025).
@galaadvandaele
is an architect, editor, researcher and educator. His research interests gravitate towards ambiguous spatial objects that challenge the nature-culture boundary, which he approaches by means of writing – between history, science, fiction – and photography.
Since 2026, he serves as Associate Professor (Maître de Conférences) of Theory and Design in Architecture and Urbanism at École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Val de Seine – Université Paris Cité. After several years of practice in Brussels, he previously taught architectural design between 2017 and 2026 at the Chair of Affective Architectures – Studio An Fonteyne at ETH Zurich. In 2025, he completed his doctorate in that same school, with a research project investigating the Grotta Grande – a cave-like building erected in Florence in the 16th century – and focusing on writing a geological history of its materiality. In parallel, he is also one of the editors of Brussels-based architecture and art magazine Accattone since 2018.
Starting from a focus on landscape studies, his research endeavours now tackle the possibility of writing a history of architecture that acknowledges the various layers of geological presence inside built spaces. Creating dialogues between architecture, the earth sciences and the environmental humanities, he seeks transversal modes of thinking about spatial productions and architectural historiographies, beyond the dissociation between the human and the geosphere.
His teaching reflects these intersections, with design courses and seminars that revolve around issues of material history, environmental history and a critique of extractivism, whilst also incorporating reflections on ways of thinking about, writing about and representing these complex issues. He has developed various teaching formats allowing to introduce young designers to geo-centric questions, with courses such as design studio ‘Post-Extractive Landscapes’ (École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Val de Seine); research and design module “Geoarchitectural Histories – A Research Practice” (Design Academy Eindhoven, 2023-24); or travelling seminar “Geocentric Driftings”, taught between Italy, Sardinia and Iceland (ETH, 2022-23).
Recently, he has been a recipient of the endowment of the Grand Prix d’Architecture, awarded by the Académie des Beaux-Arts to Herzog & de Meuron; a resident at Domaine de Frapotel (Pontpoint, 2025), at c/o Bardi (Florence, 2024), and in the ‘Architecture and Landscape’ residency program of Académie des Beaux-Arts – French Academy of Fine Arts at the Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, 2022-23); as well as a visiting fellow at the Kunsthistorisches Institut (Florence, 2024-2025).
@galaadvandaele