WHO WE ARE
Aretian | Urban Analytics and Design is a team dedicated to helping communities unlock their full potential, providing high quality of life and distributed prosperity to the people who live and work there.
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Our design consultancy and research group addresses a major societal challenge in developed countries: how to build urban ecosystems characterized by high quality of life, economic resilience, and environmental sustainability.
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Founded in 2018 by Jeremy Burke and Ramon Gras, the Aretian team is composed of Harvard affiliates from various schools at the university, including the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), the Graduate School of Design (GSD), Harvard Business School (HBS), and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS).
MEET THE ARETIAN TEAM
Master in Design Engineering
Harvard University (2018)
MEng in Systems Engineering
MIT (2015)
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MSc Civil Engineer & City Designer
BarcelonaTech (2010)
Ramon Gras
Co-Founder
Ramon Gras is a City Science Researcher, Urban Designer and Civil Engineer from Barcelona, working on the urban innovation space. At Harvard, Ramon graduated from the inaugural cohort of the Harvard MDE program, where he developed research around design criteria for innovation districts operating in synergy with logistics hubs. Prior to developing his thesis at Harvard, Ramon worked at Ferrovial’s Innovation office in London, where he led design and technology projects at the London Heathrow Airport and the London Underground. Ramon developed at MIT urban design projects for the Kendall Square expansion and Somerville Innovation Districts in the Boston Area. Ramon’s thesis at MIT addressed the consolidation problem in air freight transportation by designing an advanced Business Intelligence platform. He expanded his training at MIT after working as a designer in major infrastructure projects involving bridge design, maritime infrastructure, high speed rail, and architectural design (a Richard Rogers project). Ramon’s early research at BarcelonaTech focused on bridge design, high performance materials, and nanotechnology applications for structural engineering. Ramon is interested in enhancing innovation around Cities, Technology and Infrastructure, by designing creative and rigorous interdisciplinary solutions to address large, complex challenges facing the cities of the future.
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​Céleste Richard is an Urban Design Senior Consultant, working on innovative urban environments, bridging urban design planning and digital engineering with a human-centric approach. Céleste is interested in fostering sustainable, smart and innovative future cities by tackling complex urban challenges. She holds a bachelor degree of Architecture from the National Architecture School of Versailles, and an MSc in Urbanism from TU Delft with Honours. Previously, Céleste was part of the Sustainable Cities & Transport team at ARUP, developing strategies and urban visions, using parametric design and pedestrian modeling. Céleste gained experience on human-centric design from ETH Zurich when she joined the Cognition, Perception and Behaviour team at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore. Céleste is part of the Think-Tank Urban AI, and presented her MSc research projects at conferences about sensing people’s sentiments in urban environments with microblog data, as well as using virtual reality to assess pedestrians' wellbeing and wayfinding in urban environments.
MSc Urbanism & Honours degree
TU Delft (2022)
Céleste Richard
Urban Designer
Fernando Yu
Economist
PhD in Economics
Harvard University (2019)
MS in Economics
Harvard University (2014)
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MA in Economics
Universidad de San Andres (2009)
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Fernando Yu is a PhD economist from Harvard University interested in productive diversification strategies of countries, regions and cities. Fernando’s research combines economic modeling and Big Data analysis to study the tradeoffs between diversification opportunities and growth strategies, utilizing state of the art statistical tools, network analysis and economic modeling, both from the perspective of job creation but also economic, fiscal and financial risk mitigation. As a Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Fernando developed a framework to evaluate the financial risk of alternative growth strategies. This tool was implemented by the Ministry of Economics of Buenos Aires for the Economic Development Plan 2019. Previously, he has worked at the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund where he developed a strategy to evaluate and measure the cost of trade wars on the world economy and as a consultant for the Inter American Development Bank where he studied the impact of the financial crisis on international trade flows. In his past experience, Fernando has launched a data science firm working at the intersection of data science and economics to provide solutions to technology companies and data-driven organizations. Fernando is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Elijah Munn is a developer with a background in architecture and design. Elijah is interested in visualizing data with the intention of translating complex systems into intelligible visuals and tools. Elijah has excelled in various roles within technology and design sectors, particularly in developing user-centric interfaces and engaging data visualizations for several clients.His unique expertise combines technical prowess with an architectural aesthetic, enabling him to bridge the gap between abstract concepts and practical applications effectively. Elijah studied architecture and computer science at Boston University as well as Mastering in Cities and Technologies at Barcelona's Institute for Advanced Architecture Catalonia. Since then, Elijah has honed his skills as a developer, focusing on front end capabilities and data structuring. He is committed to continuous learning and keeps up to date with industry trends.
Elijah Munn
Developer
BA Architectural Studies & Computer Science
Boston University (2018)
Gauthier is in charge of Project Management, Business Development, Communication and Marketing at Aretian. He graduated from IE University in July 2019 where he studied a Bachelor in International Relations with minors in Business Development, Management and Artificial Intelligence. Raised in Paris, he got to discover the full international experience by living in different cities such as San Francisco, London, Rabat, Madrid, and now Boston. Before Aretian, Gauthier worked in the creation of ecological real estate where he developed projects to build wooden infrastructures in France. He was also part of a research team working for the European Commission on the topic of Cybersecurity, addressing the issue of security of the European Union's citizens, companies, and states online. Gauthier also developed a project with his fellows of IE University called "Water for Niger" which aimed at funding the creation of a water pipes system in suburban Niger. He plays tennis and loves sci-fi literature.
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Gauthier
de La Ville-Baugé
Director of Operations
BA in International Relations
IE University (2019)
Peyton Jane Gibson is a Senior Product Manager, helping develop Aretian’s groundbreaking City Digital Twin, but also dabbles in Marketing and Business Development within the team. Peyton was Fulbright Scholar to the Netherlands from 2021 - 2022. Her research has focused on how placemaking and small changes (e.g., sidewalks, mural art, benches) in urban environments impact quality of life. Peyton has worked across several sectors of the built environment industry, including as a dam design engineer for the US federal government, a program manager for infrastructure and energy policy in Washington, D.C., and most recently as a technology consultant for global engineering and architecture firms with Autodesk. Peyton grew up an Army brat and has lived in 3 different countries and 12 different states– most recently Denver, D.C. Philadelphia, and Amsterdam. In her free time you can find Peyton cycling, swimming, hiking (doing anything active, really) or writing & drawing in a cafe.
Peyton Jane Gibson
Product Manager
MSc Spatial Economics
VU Amsterdam (2022)
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MS Transportation Engineering & Public Policy
CU Denver (2021)
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BS Civil Engineering
Colorado School of Mines (2017)
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UrbanNext and Actar Network Urban Design Firm
Dan Schodek Excellence in Design Award - Harvard GSD
Venture Incubation Program (VIP) - Harvard Innovation Lab
Campus Innovation Award - Harvard Office for Sustainability
Tech and Startup Mover and Shaker Thought Leader - BostInno
Sustainable Cities and Communities Leadership Award - CogX2020 Festival
Fellows at The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Harvard University
INSPIRATION
Our work is based on providing continuity to the vision developed by masters such as Cerdà, Durand, and Galois.
Each of these visionaries worked to make quantitative models capable of shedding light on critical qualitative challenges facing their society. Through their efforts, they sought to help the community around them achieve its fullest potential -- a goal that is eloquently summarized in the concept of Arete.
The Concept of Arete
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Our name, Aretian, comes from the Greek Arete (á¼€ρετή).
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The word is translated to mean moral virtue and excellence of any kind. Arete is the virtue governing social interaction, good citizenship, and leadership. It is understood, in a more general sense, to be the act of living up to one's fullest potential.
Ildefons Cerdà
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Ildefons Cerdà is considered the father of modern urbanism, and the first person to write a systematic treaty on urban design not only as an art, but also as a scientific discipline. We see his systems approach to urban challenges as a key source of inspiration for urban designers, particularly in this age of rapid and abrupt technological changes. Cerdà's vision reminds us to conduct analysis and design with a rigorously human-centered approach.
Évariste Galois
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Évariste Galois is the father of Group Theory and a major forerunner of Network Theory. His theoretical work was foundational for developing mathematical models to describe complex systems. At Aretian, we owe many insights to Galois when exploring what types of design interventions will lead to a more prosperous society.
Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand
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Louis Durand was a visionary architect and theorist who produced a systematic method for analyzing building design typologies and their influence on human behavior. We see Durand’s vision and work as a guide for integrating design criteria for the built environment with its technology systems. Following Durand’s vision, we believe that the human experience can be elevated through the proper design and analysis of architectural environments.