Biography

In the southwest Rocky Mountains, my formative years were spent shaping – and shaped by – nature. My architectural career proceeded to harness natural forces and materials through the planning, design and construction of communal rainwater catchment pavilions in Rwanda; solar/geo-thermal powered, net-zero energy neighborhoods and mixed-use urban infill projects in the USA; and self-sufficient, digitally-fabricated engineered timber homes, greenhouses, public space interventions, and "biocities" in Europe. My doctoral research investigated how geospatial networks can inform the place-based natural material value chains for development we’ll need to meet the demand for a worldwide doubling of built floor area by 2060 – while mitigating and adapting to global climate change by advancing carbon neutrality, resource security, ecosystem services, and ecologic as well as human health and wellbeing. I recently returned to my hometown of Durango, Colorado, where I’m now applying the lessons I learned abroad to help address the region’s severe shortage of sustainable and attainable housing.

Previous Education

Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) & Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings (MAEB) 2019
University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) Environmental Design: Architecture (BEnvd) 2014

Links

https://valldaura.net
http://salka.studio
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelsalka