Bio

Nicolas Godelet is a Belgian polytechnic engineer and architect, born in Switzerland. Graduating from the University of Louvain-La-Neuve (UCL), he followed a complex course bringing together specialized studies in physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering, architecture, urban planning and landscape design, with a specialization in materiality and light. He studied architecture and its essential principles with, among others, Jean Stillemans and Yves Lepère, one of Louis Khan’s students, and with whom he will complete his final study project in Rotterdam (“Urbanism and architecture of megacities”). He then chose to specialize in wood microbiology and wooden architecture at the KUL Leuven, which he pursued through research in development and sustainable architecture in the research cell Architecture and Climate.

His first steps into China in 1996 increased his interest in Chinese culture and led to him taking Chinese language and Oriental writing courses in Belgium and France, with specialization in Jiǎgǔwén, an ancient form of Chinese writing. His multidisciplinary background and knowledge gained through travelling gives him a very broad vision of his profession, a vision which he has continued to expand throughout his career.

In 2002 Nicolas Godelet returned to China to participate in several conferences and architectural exhibitions, including seminars of the PLEA group, and to represent Belgium at the Europe-China Summit on Sustainable Urban Planning, Energy and Mobility, following a collaboration agreement signed by Li Ke Qiang and the President of the European Commission at the time, José Manuel Barroso.

In 2008 Nicolas Godelet created his own architecture and structure consulting firm in Beijing, NICOLAS GODELET 戈建 Architects & Engineers. The 20 person collaborative team brought together from various backgrounds is a perfect example of Nicolas’s multidisciplinary vision of his profession. Today the activities of the workshop extend also to Europe, with the creation of a new office in Belgium which aims to pursue a high quality of architecture by deepening the materials and energy research first initiated in China.