Associate Professor @ School of Architecture & Founding Director of the Responsive Design Lab

Dr. Yun Kyu Yi is an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he teaches and researches in environmental architecture and sustainable technologies. His expertise includes computational building modeling, building performance evaluation, and studying indoor occupant behavior. Dr. Yi is also the co-founder of the Responsive Architecture Lab (RAL), which focuses on developing new technologies to improve the built environment by integrating architectural design with advanced engineering and computer science.

He earned his Ph.D. and master’s degrees in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and holds earlier degrees in Architectural Engineering from Yonsei University and Hong-Ik University in South Korea. Before joining UIUC, he taught at the University of Pennsylvania and worked at its T.C. Chan Center for Building Simulation and Energy Studies.

Dr. Yi has authored over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, with research spanning sustainable design, simulation, and emerging technologies in architecture. His work has been widely recognized, including a feature as the cover article in the Building Simulation journal. Recently, he has led high-impact research applying machine learning to building performance evaluation, energy-generating pavilion design, and climate-responsive architecture. He continues to direct the Responsive Architecture Lab, supported by faculty awards and external grants, advancing innovation at the intersection of design, computation, and sustainability.