Dr. Ir. Faidra (Phaedra) Oikonomopoulou is Assistant Professor at the Structural Design & Mechanics Group in the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft. Her research focuses on structural glass and particularly on innovative structural applications of cast glass components and on the design of full-glass load-bearing structures and components. She is involved as a tutor in the MSc of Building Technology, in courses such as Technoledge Structural Design and SWAT, she is a structural design consultant for MSc Students of Architecture and a mentor in multiple MSc graduation thesis focusing on structural glass.  ​

Faidra holds two MSc degrees, in Architectural Engineering by the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and in Building Technology by TU Delft. In 2019 she completed her PhD at TU Delft on the topic of “Unveiling the Third Dimension of Glass. Solid Cast Glass Components and Assemblies for Structural Applications”, focusing on the design, development, prototyping and experimental validation of building systems utilizing solid cast glass components.  ​

Faidra has been one of the lead researchers involved in the research, development and construction of the Crystal Houses Façade in Amsterdam. As part of the research team of the Crystal Houses she has received multiple awards, including the Outstanding Innovation Award 2016 by the Society of Façade Engineers, the Glass Award for Innovation 2016 by Bouwend Nederland and the Talent met Toekomst 2017. She has been further involved in several structural glass projects such as the Crystal Houses façade, the bundled glass column and a robotically assembled glass-brick vault and has initiated research in topics such as restoration of historic monuments by glass, Re3 Glass, and Topological Optimization of Cast Glass Structural Components. Her research work on structural cast glass has been exhibited in several international fairs and exhibitions, such as the Dutch Design Week, the Venice Design, the Salone del Mobile and the Vitra Design Museum. Faidra has received several grants, awards and nominations for her research work and has given multiple invited talks in universities, companies and institutions in Europe and USA.

Selected Publications

• Glass up-casting: a review on the current challenges in glass recycling and a novel approach for recycling “as-is” glass waste into volumetric glass components, Bristogianni, T., & Oikonomopoulou, F. (2022). Glass Structures & Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40940-022-00206-9

• Adhesive solutions for cast glass assemblies: Ground rules emerging from built case studies on adhesive selection and experimental validation. Oikonomopoulou, F., Bristogianni, T. (2022). Glass Structures & Engineering

• The adhesively-bonded glass brick system of the Qaammat Pavilion in Greenland: From research to realization. F. Oikonomopoulou, T. Bristogianni, M. van der Velden, K. Ikonomidis, (2022). In: Journal of Architecture, Structures and Construction

• Unveiling the third dimension of glass: Solid cast glass components and assemblies for structural applications, Oikonomopoulou, F., (2019), A+BE | Architecture and the Built Environment, Dissertation (PhD). 348 p. ​

• The potential of cast glass in structural applications: Lessons learned from large-scale castings and state-of-the art load-bearing cast glass in architecture, Oikonomopoulou, F., Bristogianni, T., Barou, L., Veer, F. A. & Nijsse, R., (2018), In : Journal of Building Engineering. 20, p. 213-234. ​

• Interlocking cast glass components, Exploring a demountable dry-assembly structural glass system, Oikonomopoulou, F., Bristogianni, T., Barou, L., Jacobs, E., Frigo, G., Veer, F. & Nijsse, R., 11 Oct 2018, In : Heron. 63, 1/2, p. 103-138. ​

• The construction of the Crystal Houses façade: challenges and innovations, Oikonomopoulou, F., Bristogianni, T., Veer, F. & Nijsse, R., 11 Apr 2017,  In : Glass Structures and Engineering. 3 (2018), p. 87-108. ​

• Rethinking the Cast Glass Mould. Novel Techniques for complex and customized geometries. F. Oikonomopoulou, I. S. Bhatia, W. Damen, F. van der Weijst, T. Bristogianni, (2020). In: Challenging Glass 7 Conference Proceedings, Ghent, Belgium. ​

• Evaluation of the fracture resistance of cast glass. T. Bristogianni, F. Oikonomopoulou, F. Veer, R. Nijsse, (2021). In: International Journal of Structural Glass and Advanced Materials Research. ​

• On the flexural strength and stiffness of cast glass. T. Bristogianni, F. Oikonomopoulou, F. Veer, 2021. In: Journal of Glass Structures & Engineering. ​

• Investigating the flexural strength of recycled cast glass. T. Bristogianni, F. Oikonomopoulou, R. Yu, F. Veer, R. Nijsse, (2020). In: Journal of Glass Structures & Engineering ​

• Design and experimental testing of the bundled glass column, Oikonomopoulou, F., van den Broek, E., Bristogianni, T., Veer, F. A. & Nijsse, R., (2017), In : Glass Structures and Engineering. 2, 2, p. 183-200 18 p. ​

  
  

TU Delft Research Profile

Selected Research Projects

- Crystal Houses Façade – Built Project- Re3 Glass

- Research Project- Automated Robotic Construction: The Glass vault – Built Project

- Mirage - Built Project

- Qaammat Pavilion - Built Project

- Restoration of historic monuments by Glass – Research Project

- The bundled glass column – Research Project

- Kintsugi Cast Glass Façade – Research Project 

- Topological Optimization of Cast Glass Structural Components – Research Project

- 3D-printed Sand Moulds for Cast Glass Components of Complex Geometry – Research Project

- Investigating the strength of cast glass - Research Project​