Dillon Pranger

Dillon Pranger serves as an Assistant Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, directing the interdisciplinary Deconstruction/Reconstruction Lab focused on sustainable building material recovery and circular construction techniques. As a licensed architect, he founded the award-winning Office of Dillon Pranger (ODP) in Chicago, specializing in small-scale contextual projects that integrate material, labor, and energy lifecycles into design processes.

Pranger's educational background includes a B.S. in Architecture from the University of Cincinnati and an M.Arch. from Cornell University, where he received the Henry Adams Certificate and Richmond Herold Shreve Award for distinguished thesis work. His teaching experience extends to Cornell University, Harvard GSD, and Syracuse University prior to his current position.

His research centers on sustainable material systems and circular economy principles within architecture, challenging traditional waste paradigms through projects like Taking Stock and The Architecture of Waste publication. Pranger's work investigates finite material resources, design for disassembly methodologies, and urban mining concepts, emphasizing temporary material states and reversible construction techniques that preserve material value throughout multiple lifecycles.

His recent design projects demonstrate consistent exploration of material reuse across scales—from the BYOB temporary structure using reclaimed Chicago bricks to Woodstack's friction-fit lumber assemblies. These works collectively examine construction waste reduction through innovative disassembly systems, QR-code material tracking, and context-specific material lifecycles, establishing him as a leading voice in circular architectural practice.

• Silver Medal for Best Young Architect, The Architect’s Newspaper (2023)
• Architizer A+ Awards (2023, 2024)
• Rethinking the Future Award (2023)
• Tallinn Architecture Biennale (2022)
• Henry Adams Certificate, Cornell University
• Richmond Herold Shreve Award, Cornell University

Pranger actively mentors students through his Deconstruction/Reconstruction Lab while maintaining ODP's client-based practice. His studio courses like ARCH 497: Material Narratives and ARCH 497: The Architecture of Waste directly translate research into pedagogy, with students developing alternative building assemblies through physical prototyping. The lab investigates material scarcity through projects tracking lumber price fluctuations and exploring circular housing solutions for Amsterdam's urban context.

The Deconstruction/Reconstruction Lab operates as both academic research unit and design incubator, with projects like Arcadian Anthropocene examining circular system logic for high-density housing and Design for Disassembly prototyping reversible construction techniques. Collaborative efforts involving students and practitioners test material reuse at full scale, from Woodstack's temporary pavilion to BYOB's modular brick assembly, creating tangible demonstrations of circular architectural principles.