MICHAEL CONTENTO is Project Architect with Urban-Think Tank, a high-level, interdisciplinary research and design practice, with offices in Caracas, Sao Paulo, New York, and Zurich. Contento is a lead researcher and design studio critic at the Chair of Architecture and Urban Design in the ETH Zürich Department of Architecture.  His work focuses on the relationship between architecture and the contemporary city, specifically in the context of informality, and expands the role of the architect beyond design to include social sustainability, economic stability, and public policy. He received his Master of Architecture from Columbia University, GSAPP.