Edward Becker is a professor of architecture and urbanism at Virginia Tech and a registered architect in Finland. He previously taught urbanism at Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland and in Tallinn, Estonia, and has practiced professionally as an architect and urban designer in Helsinki and Copenhagen. Edward has led teaching and research programs for over a decade in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Estonia, and has an intimate knowledge of the Nordic and Baltic regions’ socio-cultural histories and practices as manifested in the built environment.

Edward specializes in wood design and construction, from the ancient log and half-timber construction of the Baltics to some of the world’s most high-performance mass timber structures currently being built in Nordic cities. He is particularly interested in how design is influenced by climates and cultures, including the political, social, and economic dimensions of design, construction, and urban planning. His research and teaching have spanned countries and cultures, from Gotland’s tar-coated, reed-covered vernacular architecture to the German-influenced, half-timbered buildings of the historic Hanseatic trading center.

Edward’s research has focused on the urban planning history of Stockholm, as well as the urban design histories of Tallinn, Helsinki, and Copenhagen. An American-Scandinavian Foundation Fellow and a graduate of Harvard University, he has won numerous awards for his design work in northern Europe and for his teaching at Virginia Tech, where he received the prestigious Certificate for Excellence in Teaching.