Smithsonian Journeys Experts

Edward Becker, SAFA, 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, as well as practiced professionally as an architect and urban designer in Helsinki and Copenhagen. He has led teaching and research programs for over a decade in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Estonia that have leveraged his intimate knowledge of the Nordic and Baltic regions’ socio-cultural histories and practices as manifested in the built environment. Professor Becker specializes in wood design and construction, from the ancient log and half-timber construction of the Baltic Region, to some of the world’s most high-performance mass timber structures currently being built in the Nordic capital cities. He is particularly interested in how the designs of buildings and cities are influenced by their related climates and cultures, including the political, social, and economic dimensions of design, construction, and urban planning. From Gotland’s tar-coated reed-covered vernacular architecture, to the German-influenced Hanseatic half-timbered buildings typifying historic Baltic urban centers, Edward’s research and teaching have spanned countries and cultures. Edward’s diploma thesis focused on the urban planning history of Stockholm, and he has conducted research on the urban design histories of Tallinn, Helsinki, and Copenhagen. Prof. Becker is an American-Scandinavian Foundation Fellow and a graduate of Harvard University. He has won numerous awards for his design work in Northern Europe, as well as for his teaching at Virginia Tech, including Virginia Tech’s prestigious university-level Certificate for Excellence in Teaching.