Peter von Bülow is a professor of architecture at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College. His area of research focuses on the use of evolutionary computation for exploration and optimization of structural systems. Prof. von Bülow has worked professionally in both architecture and engineering offices in Germany and the United States, including RFR-Stuttgart, Greiner Engineering, and SL-Rasch. He also spent a year at the University of Stuttgart’s Institute for Lightweight Studies (under Frei Otto) as a Fulbright Scholar. Some of von Bülow's research work includes the development of thin-shell blast shelters, frame-supported tensile structures, grid shell domes and branching “tree” structures. Von Bülow has published numerous papers describing optimal forms of shell and membrane structures. His recent publications focus on the design of branching column systems (“Tree” Columns). He has also designed and built a wooden grid shell based on the methods developed by Frei Otto, as well as an irregular mesh shell, which made use of reclaimed natural tree crotches for the bifurcating joints. Prof. von Bülow has a doctorate in engineering from the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design at the University of Stuttgart. He also received two degrees from the University of Tennessee: a Master of Science in Civil Engineering and a Bachelor of Architecture.