Stefan Paul Sauter
Berlin / Lausanne / San José
Doctoral Candidate
Data Centers: An Environmental History of Information 1850s – 1950s
History and Theories of Architecture, Technology, and Media
EPFL ENAC IA BP 4140 Station 16 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland stefan.sauterecheverria@epfl.ch
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Berlin / Lausanne / San José
Doctoral Candidate
Data Centers: An Environmental History of Information 1850s – 1950s
History and Theories of Architecture, Technology, and Media
EPFL ENAC IA BP 4140 Station 16 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland stefan.sauterecheverria@epfl.ch
Contact
Stefan Sauter (b. 1990, San José, Costa Rica) is an architect, researcher, and educator working at the intersection of design, history, and environmental systems. He holds a Master of Architecture II from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Licentiate from Universidad Véritas in Costa Rica. From 2018 to 2025, he worked at Barkow Leibinger in Berlin, contributing to projects including Rice University’s New Hanszen College (the first mass-timber building in Houston) as well as international competition proposals such as the MIT Met renovation and the 1014 Space for Ideas in New York. He also co-developed Schaufenster, Barkow Leibinger’s exhibition platform.
Stefan’s work spans architectural practice, curatorial research, and research-driven design. He has collaborated with institutions including the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), OMA/AMO, MIT’s Program in Art, Culture, and Technology, and the Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture, and Design. His contributions include exhibitions such as Archaeology of the Digital (CCA), Countryside, The Future (Guggenheim), In Our Present Condition (MIT ACT), and participation in The Terraforming, a three-year design research program directed by Benjamin H. Bratton. He has taught design studios at the Harvard GSD with Regine Leibinger, addressing themes of modernism, bio-based megastructures, and adaptive reuse.
He is currently a doctoral researcher at the Laboratory for History and Theories of Architecture, Technology, and Media (HITAM) at EPFL under the supervision of Alfredo Thiermann, where his research, part of Data Centers: An Environmental History of Information, 1850s–1950s, examines the founding of early biological research stations in Latin America.
Shapeshifter, operates as a research and design platform exploring how living beings, technologies, and places continuously transform in relation to context, bias, and scale.
Stefan also advises Samara Smart Farm, a family project developing design-driven alternatives to coastal urbanization in Costa Rica.
Stefan’s work spans architectural practice, curatorial research, and research-driven design. He has collaborated with institutions including the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), OMA/AMO, MIT’s Program in Art, Culture, and Technology, and the Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture, and Design. His contributions include exhibitions such as Archaeology of the Digital (CCA), Countryside, The Future (Guggenheim), In Our Present Condition (MIT ACT), and participation in The Terraforming, a three-year design research program directed by Benjamin H. Bratton. He has taught design studios at the Harvard GSD with Regine Leibinger, addressing themes of modernism, bio-based megastructures, and adaptive reuse.
He is currently a doctoral researcher at the Laboratory for History and Theories of Architecture, Technology, and Media (HITAM) at EPFL under the supervision of Alfredo Thiermann, where his research, part of Data Centers: An Environmental History of Information, 1850s–1950s, examines the founding of early biological research stations in Latin America.
Shapeshifter, operates as a research and design platform exploring how living beings, technologies, and places continuously transform in relation to context, bias, and scale.
Stefan also advises Samara Smart Farm, a family project developing design-driven alternatives to coastal urbanization in Costa Rica.
Doctoral Candidate
Data Centers: An Architectural History of Environmental Information, 1850s-1950s
Laboratory for History and Theories of Architecture, Technology, and Media (HITAM)
September 2025 – Ongoing | Lausanne, CH
HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN (GSD)
Master of Architecture II with Distinction | August 2016 – May 2018 | Cambridge, MA
UNIVERSIDAD VERITAS
Licentiate’s Degree in Architecture | May 2009 – February 2015 | San José, Costa Rica
Project Designer and Researcher | August 2018 – August 2025
Berlin, DE
Design development of the New Hanszen College dormitory for Rice University, and competitions for the MIT Met renovation project, the 1014 Space for Ideas in New York, and a mixed-use residential tower complex in Atlanta, Georgia. He was also responsible for research and public programming for Schaufenster, Barkow Leibinger’s in-progress exhibition space and lecture series.
Employers: Frank Barkow and Regine Leibinger
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR ARCHITECTURE (CCA)
Curatorial Intern | October 2015 – July 2016
Montréal, QC
Research and development for the “On View” publication and the third installment of “Archaeology of the Digital: Complexity and Convention”, an exhibition curated by Greg Lynn.
Employers: Giovanna Borasi. Mirko Zardini, Phyllis Lambert
O+A ARQUITECTURA
Architectural Designer | May – July 2015
San José, CR
Site analysis, conceptual and programmatic research and preliminary design for a proposal for a mixed-use master plan in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Employer: Antonio Cardona
SAN JOSÉ REVÉS
Intern | August 2012 - October 2012
San José, CR
Collaborated in the construction of a 1.5 mts x 2 mts architectural model for a competition to design the new building for the National Legislative Assembly.
Employer: Diego Van der Laat
TACTIC ARCHITECTS
Intern | May 2011 - May 2012
San José, CR
Built models, produced renderings, and edited presentation documents for the Lankaster Residential Development Project.
Employer: Carlos Umaña and Juan Carlos Sanabria
Research Associate for Regine Leibinger
September 2023 – December 2023
Cambridge, MA
Option Studio
“Revisiting the Existing: Resources from Sites of Speculation”
Guest Lecturers: Chrissie Muhr, Søren Pihlmann, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, Freek Persyn, Francisco Cifuentes, Friedericke Kluge, Marija Maric, Ludwig Engel, Norihisa Kawashima
HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN (GSD)
Research Associate for Regine Leibinger & Karen Stein
October 2023 – December 2023
Cambridge, MA
Module Option Studio
“Revisiting Utopia: Bio-Based Megastructures in the Texas Desert”
Guest Speakers: Chris Taylor, Craig Buckley, Ludwig Engel, Lisa Le Feuvre, Mae-Ling Lokko, Philip Ursprung, Martin Bechthold
HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN (GSD)
Research Associate for Regine Leibinger
September 2022 – October 2022
Cambridge, MA
Module Option Studio
“Revisiting Mies: An extension to Haus Lemke in Berlin”
Guest Speakers: Wita Noack, Anna Ramos, Kiel Moe, Phillip Misselwitz, Beatriz Colomina
Workshop | November 2025 | Lausanne, CH
“Making the World Discrete: Workshop on Methods in Architectural History”
Tutors: Alfredo Thiermann, Xavier Nueno, Pedro Correa, Alla Vronskaya, Cristóbal Amunátegui, Zeynep Çelik Alexander
UNIVERSITY OF BASEL
Seminar | September 2025 - December 2025 | Basel, CH
“A World of Goods: Commodities in Modern Global History”
Tutors: Corey Ross & Moritz von Brescius
STRELKA INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA, ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Postgraduate Program | February 2022 - March 2022 | Istanbul, TR
“The Terraforming”
Tutors: Benjamin Bratton, Nicolay Boyadjiev, Reza Negarestani, Lydia Kallipoliti, Jussi Parika, Geoff Manaugh, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, Marina Otero, K Allado-McDowell, Valentin Dyakonov, Peter Galison, Thomas Moynihan
HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN (GSD)
Seminar | January - May 2018 | Cambridge, MA
“Mapping: Geographic Representation and Speculation”
Tutor: Robert Pietrusko
HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN (GSD)
Seminar | January - May 2018 | Cambridge, MA
“Scenes of Development, Design, and Disaster”
Tutor: Todd Reisz
HARVARD DEP. OF VISUAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES (VES)
Seminar | January - May 2018 | Cambridge, MA
“The Work of Art in the Age of Remediation”
Tutor: Dr. Philipe-Allain Michaud
HARVARD DEP. OF VISUAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES (VES)
Seminar | August - December 2016 | Cambridge, MA
“The Non-Human: Aesthetics and Politics of Personhood”
Tutor: Alexander Galloway
YALE/UNIVERSIDAD DE COSTA RICA (UCR)
Seminar | May 2017 | San Jose, CR
“Knowing How: Global Infrastructure Space”.
Tutors: Keller Easterling and Valeria Guzmán
AMO/GSD
Study Abroad | February 2017 – July 2017 | Rotterdam, NL
“Countryside: Future of the World”
Tutors: Rem Koolhaas, Stephan Petermann, Janna Bystrykh, Dr. Niklas Maak, Ireneé Scalbert
UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTRÉAL/ ETH ZÜRICH / UNIVERSIDAD DE COSTA RICA (UCR)
Seminar | August 2015 | San José, CR
“MILIEU, ENVIRONMENT, UMWELT”
Tutors: Dr. Alessandra Ponte and Dr. Laurent Stalder
TEORÉTICA
Workshop | July 2014 | San José, CR
“In-vitro Nature”
Tutors: Ana María Tavares
COLUMBIA GSAPP / UCR
Seminar | February 2014 | San José, CR
“The Ordinary”
Tutors: Dr. Enrique Walker and Dr. Valeria Guzmán
Lecture | November 2024 | Zoom
“Half Earth Models”
For the Silva Systems course on design and ecosystem biodiversity taught by Moritz Maria Karl and Lukas Wegwerth.
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Lecture | February 2023 | Zoom
“Dictionaries”
Young Prototypes is a series of talks on experimental design research as an area of architectural production through the voice of nineteen emerging architectural practices curated by Pablo Sequero and Laura Salazar.
LATIN GSD
Symposium | March 2018 | Cambridge, MA
“Latinin’ America”
Sponsored by The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
Speakers: Dr. Enrique Walker, Fabiola López-Durán, Gary Urton
CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE BIENNIAL (CAB5) AT BARKOW LEIBINGER
Installation | October 2023 - January 2024 | Chicago Cultura Center, Chicago, IL
“Cardboard Merzbau” at “This is a Rehearsal” Exhibition.
Curators: avery r. young, Andrew Schachman, Faheem Majeed, and Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford
MIT PROGRAM IN ART, CULTURE, AND TECHNOLOGY (ACT)
Exhibition of work | Spring 2018 | Lobby 9, Cambridge, MA
“50th anniversary of Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS)”.
Curators: Gediminas Urbonas, Lars Bang Larsen, and Laura Knott
WORLDWIDE STOREFRONT (WWSF)
Thesis | November 2014 | Storefront for Art and Architecture Website
“Tropical Ghosts”.
Curators: Laura Castro, Mónica De Moya, Maurice Sánchez and Engel Leonardo
Universidad VERITAS Honors Thesis Award | February 2015
San José, CR
Project: La Menagerie: Monster as Manifesto
DOMUS
Winning Proposal for May/June Issue Cover Competition | April 2013
Issue: DOMUS-Central America and Caribbean Habitar
Universidad VERITAS Honors Thesis Award | February 2015
San José, CR
Project: La Menagerie: Monster as Manifesto
DOMUS
Winning Proposal for May/June Issue Cover Competition | April 2013
Issue: DOMUS-Central America and Caribbean Habitar
Last Updated 24.10.31