Former head of Gehry Technologies picked to lead Rensselaer's Center for Architecture Science and Ecology

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Upstate New York has named Dennis Shelden as the new director for the school's Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE).

According to a press release announcing the selection, Shelden will head "a boundary-pushing organization at a critical moment for the future of the human-made environment" tasked with bringing together intellectual leaders in the worlds of architecture, science, and business "to collaborate on innovation and implementation of next-generation sustainable built environments."

The center maintains two locations, one in Troy where the Rensselaer is located, and another in Brooklyn. Text on the CASE website describes the work of the center as focused on accelerating "a more aggressively experimental process that leads to development of new systems that produce a paradigm shift in the way that our future cities metabolize energy, water, and resources."

Shelden comes to New York following a recent tenure at the Georgia I...