Dr.-Ing. Christian Xavier Corral Burau

Christian Corral Burau works in research and design in the fields of sustainable urban development and architecture. His work focuses on resilience and climate change adaptation in informal settlements in the Global South, with an emphasis on design-based and scenario-oriented research. He completed his doctoral degree (Dr.-Ing.) summa cum laude within a cotutelle programme between Leibniz Universität Hannover and Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie in São Paulo, supported by a DAAD scholarship. As part of his doctoral research, he developed an interdisciplinary Scenario Framework. This framework integrates multi-method approaches, open-source data, and custom computational tools to support the evaluation of urban adaptation strategies and long-term scenario exploration under conditions of sea-level rise. It is conceived as a transferable methodological instrument for analysing equitable and resilient urban futures across diverse territorial contexts. In 2018, he founded Proyectual Studio, an Ecuador-based design and research practice at the intersection of architecture, urbanism and sustainability. Since 2024, he has been pursuing PlantMe, an informal, self-initiated project focusing on decarbonisation, reforestation and community-based approaches in the Sinincay region near Cuenca, Ecuador. In 2016, he received the BDA Master's Prize.

• Scenario planning and urban adaptation to climate change
• Urban planning and resilience for disadvantaged communities
• Design-based research in urban planning
• People-centred and socially just urban development
• Computational methods in architecture and urbanism