Chair

Chair Profile

The Chair for Urban Design and Urbanization is focused on socially just and climate conscious urban design for people, plants, animals, fungi and crystals. CUD research and design projects explore the complex history, actual use, ecology and economy of the urban and contemporary modes of urban governance. Cooperative and community-based design processes are investigated, developed and tested in teaching, research and practice.

Urbanization is a global phenomenon confronting societies with unprecedented local challenges and opportunities. Rapid urban growth, finite resources and resulting socio-political distribution conflicts demand new governance strategies and planning and design tools. CUD strongly believes that the urban professional has to reinforce his and her expertise in order for urban design to become the platform on which sustainable development is negotiated between different disciplines and stakeholder groups.

CUD focuses on the coordination of top-down and bottom-up planning modes, advocating the integration of civil society based urban development into urban planning and development processes. The chair is organized as a laboratory for urban design theory and practice, cooperating with universities, practitioners, developers, municipalities and – most importantly, the people as co-producers of a better urban future.

(fig: Büro, Thomas Demand, 1995)

Chair staff

  • Jörg Stollmann

    Professor

    Jörg Stollmann is an architect and urban researcher based in Zurich and Berlin. He is co-founder of urbaninform. Jörg Stollmann graduated form the University of the Arts Berlin and Princeton University. He works in various collaborations, for example with the artist Ines Schaber, and was principal of INSTANT Architects with Dirk Hebel. He taught at the University of the Arts Berlin, the Technical University Berlin and ETH Zurich. At ETH, he taught the MAS Program in Landscape Architecture and was Director of Studies of the MAS Program in Urban Design. He was part of the curatorial team of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam 2009 for the section Squat. The Informal City under Construction.

    Jörg Stollmann ist Architekt und Stadtforscher in Zürich und Berlin. Er ist Mitbegründer von urbaninform. Jörg Stollmann studierte an der Universität der Künste Berlin und Princeton University. Er arbeitet in verschiedenen Kollaborationen, z. Bsp. mit der Künstlerin Ines Schaber, und war Inhaber von INSTANT Architekten mit Dirk Hebel. Er lehrte an der Universität der Künste Berlin, der TU Berlin und der ETH Zürich. An der ETH unterrichtete er das MAS Programm in Landschaftsarchitektur und war Studiendirektor des MAS Programm Urban Design. Er war Teil des kuratorischen Teams der Internationalen Architektur Biennale Rotterdam 2009 für die Sektion Squat. The Informal City under Construction.

    (fig: TU Berlin/PR/Ulrich Dahl)

  • Anna Heilgemeir

    Research Associate

    Anna Heilgemeir works as a planner and architect as part of an architect cooperative since 2015. She develops, plans and builds mainly non-commercial and community oriented spaces from small to large scale often in cooperation with the housing cooperative, Mietshäuser Syndikat. Between 2011 and 2015, she worked for and in collaboration with Bernhard Hummel and Clemens Krug architekten and for LIN Architects & Urbanists (Cité du Design, Competition Team Bremer Punkt). Heilgemeir teaches and researches on the topic of spatial commons, co-produced city and methods of civil learning. Her focus lies on built space as commons, collective living and housing models, possible “operational systems” between self-organization and local government as well as the transitions from activism to planning practice. Beside her work as a planner, she is active in several city activist initiatives. She is also co-founder of the interventionist performance collective L.A.Müller and member of the curatorial team of the Nachbarschaftsakademie / Neighborhood Academy in Prinzessinnengarten and the non-profit association Common Grounds e.V.

    Anna Heilgemeir arbeitet als Planerin und Architektin in Berlin seit 2015 zusammen mit der Kooperative coop.disco an der Entwicklung, Planung und Umsetzung von Gemeinschaftsprojekten und Quartieren ohne Eigentumsbildung sowie an der Veränderung der Rahmenbedingungen für eine soziale und gemeinwohlorientierte Immobilienentwicklung im Sinne einer diversen, zugänglichen Stadt ohne Verdrängung.  Von 2011 bis 2015 war sie an der Planung und Umsetzung verschiedener öffentlicher und selbstverwalteter Projekte bei Bernhard Hummel und clemens krug architekten (u.A. WiLMa, Mietshäuser Syndikat, Berlin Lichtenberg) und bei LIN Architects & Urbanists (u.A. Bremer Punkt, Nachverdichtung einer Nachkriegssiedlung in öffentlicher Hand, Bremen) tätig. 2015 war sie Teil des kuratorischen Teams der Nachbarschaftsakademie in den Prinzessinnengärten.
    Seit 2014 lehrt und forscht sie am Chair for Urban Design and Urbanization an der TU-Berlin zu den Themen Spatial Commons und Methoden des Civil Learning. Ihr Fokus liegt dabei auf dem gebauten Raum als Gemeingut, kooperativen und kollektiven Modelle für Wohn-und Lebensformen, deren Produktion, Reproduktion und die Gefahr der externen Abschöpfung, “Betriebssystemen” zwischen Selbstverwaltung und kommunaler Verantwortung und den Übergängen zwischen Aktivismus und planerischer Praxis.

    Momentan liegt der Hauptschwerpunkt ihrer Arbeit auf den Zusammenhängen zwischen Nachbarschaft, Gewerbe und Abschöpfung, zwischen Eigentum und Alltag. Hierfür arbeitet sie zusammen mit Dagmar Pelger und Nada Bretfeld an einer Kartierung und Publikation zum Wrangelkiez und im Rahmen des Recherchprojekts ‘Im Dissens?‘ an der nGbK (Neue Gesellschaft für bildende Künste) an einer Kartierung und Strassenzeitung zur Oranienstraße, beide in Berlin Kreuzberg.

    Neben ihrer Arbeit als Planerin, Lehrende und Forschende ist sie aktive Mitstreiterin der Berliner stadtpolitischen Bewegung und Gründungsmitglied des interventionistischen Performance Kollektivs L.A. Müller.

  • Veljko Marković

    Research Associate

    Veljko Marković is a Serbian architect based in Berlin. He obtained a Master of Architecture from the University in Belgrade/Faculty of Architecture, after which he continued his studies in Germany. In 2016 he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg obtaining a Master of Arts, where he studied at the Chair for Architecture and Urban Studies – a research based Master program. His research focus is on the characteristics of intermediate spaces emerging from ideological or interest conflicts. He is interested in the idea of the border between inclusivity and exclusivity, specifically within a participatory processes. His work mainly focuses on Berlin’s city development while drawing parallels to post-socialist Yugoslavian heritage. After gaining experience in several Berlin based architecture offices working on projects of different scale, his main practical work has been working as a team member with Deadline Architects on the co-ownership project Fritzz23, a commercial Baugruppe for cultural industries. He has also collaborated with several artists, mainly on public sculpture projects, as well as with different housing collectives and constellations in the frame of Mietshäuser Syndikat.

    Veljko Marković ist ein serbisch-Berliner Architekt. Veljko Marković, geboren in Serbien, arbeitet als Architekt in Berlin. Nach seinem Masterabschluss in Architektur an der Universität Belgrad führte er sein Studium in Deutschland fort. Ab 2016 absolvierte er einen forschungsbasierten Master der Kunst an der Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Nürnberg, insbesondere am Lehrstuhl für Architektur und Stadtforschung. Der Fokus seiner Recherchen liegt auf den Charakteristiken von „intermediate spaces“, welche durch Ideologie- oder Interessenkonflikte hervortreten. Sein Interesse gilt der Grenze zwischen Exklusivität und Inklusivität, insbesondere innerhalb partizipativer Prozesse. In seiner Arbeit beschäftigt er sich vor allem mit Berlins Stadtentwicklung und zieht dabei Parallelen zu post-jugoslawischen Städten. Nachdem er durch die Mitarbeit an Projekten unterschiedlichen Maßstabs in mehreren Berliner Architekturbüros praktische Erfahrungen sammeln konnte, arbeitete er zuletzt als Teammitglied bei Deadline Architects. Hier betreute er unter anderem das kommerzielle und von unterschiedlichen kulturellen Trägern initiierte Baugruppen-Projekt „Frizz23“. Außerdem sucht er immer wieder die Zusammenarbeit mit unterschiedlichen Künstlern, meist im Rahmen von Projekten wie Kunst am Bau oder in Kooperation mit Wohnkollektiven und dem Mietshäuser Syndikat.

    veljko.markovitch(a)tu-berlin.de

  • Steffen Klotz

    Research Associate (BMBF Project „Wohnqualitäten“)

    Steffen Klotz ist Urban Designer und Stadtforscher in Berlin. Er arbeitet in Formen kollaborativer Wissensproduktion und kollektiven Gestaltungsprozessen für die sozialgerechte und nachhaltige Entwicklung von Räumen. Steffen interessiert sich besonders für das Zusammenwirken unterschiedlicher Maßstabsebenen und die geeigneten Ansatzpunkte in diesem Geflecht für eine Transformation von unten. Steffen ist wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter im Citizen-Science-Projekt „C/O________ – Forschen mit Kindern und Jugendlichen zur Wohnqualität in der Großwohnsiedlung“ (pbi/CUD). In den vergangenen Jahren hat er zu den Transformationsprozessen in ländlichen Räumen in Ostdeutschland geforscht – insbesondere im Hinblick auf die Wirkung globaler Kräfte und den lokalen Teilhabemöglichkeiten. Steffen studierte Landschaftsarchitektur und Urban Design an der TU Berlin.Er hat in verschiedenen Landschaftsarchitektur- und Architekturbüros in Berlin gearbeitet (u.a. man made land und Planorama Landschaftsarchitektur). Er war Teil des Designbüros studio amore und wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Thünen-Institut für Regionalentwicklung. Darüber hinaus arbeitet Steffen aktuell zu Themen gemeinwohlorientierter Stadtentwicklung als Teil der Planungskooperative coopdisco.

     

    Steffen Klotz is an urban designer and urban researcher based in Berlin. He works in forms of collaborative knowledge production and collective design processes for the socially-just and sustainable development of spaces. Steffen is particularly interested in the interaction of different levels of scale, and suitable approaches within this web to enable bottom-up transformation. Steffen is a research associate in the Citizen Science project “C/O________ ­– Researching with Children and Young People on Housing Quality in Large Housing Estates” (pbi/CUD). In recent years, he has conducted research on transformation processes in rural areas in eastern Germany – particularly with regard to the impact of global forces and local opportunities for participation. Steffen studied landscape architecture and urban design at the TU Berlin. He has worked in various landscape architecture and architecture firms in Berlin (including man made land and Planorama Landschaftsarchitektur). He was part of the design studio amore and a research assistant at the Thünen Institute for Regional Development. In addition, Steffen is currently working on topics of community-oriented urban development as part of the planning cooperative coopdisco.

    s.klotz(at)tu-berlin.de

  • Julia Köpper

    Research Associate

    Julia Köpper is an architect and urban planner. She plans, teaches and researches in the area of conflict between spatial design and social issues. Since 2015, she and four other partners have been running the Octagon architecture collective in Leipzig. As part of the collective, she works at the interface between built objects and urban space. Her passion is to explore urban space with its dynamics and to design according to these insights – whether in urban planning, by means of urban intervention or as a participatory process. She studied architecture at the TU Berlin and the ENSAPLV Paris as well as European urbanism at the Bauhaus University Weimar. She worked in various architecture and landscape architecture offices, including Christian de Portzamparc (Paris), Topotek1 (Berlin), Latitude Nord (Paris) and Gehl Architects (Copenhagen), and was a research assistant at the Institute for Design and Urban Planning at the Leibniz University of Hanover.

    Julia Köpper ist Architektin und Stadtplanerin. Sie plant, lehrt und forscht im Spannungsfeld zwischen räumlicher Gestaltung und sozialen Fragestellungen. Seit 2015 betreibt sie mit vier weiteren Partner*innen das Architekturkollektiv Octagon in Leipzig. Als Teil des Kollektivs arbeitet sie an der Schnittstelle zwischen gebautem Objekt und Stadtraum. Ihre Leidenschaft ist es, den urbanen Raum mit seinen Dynamiken zu erforschen und entsprechend dieser Erkenntnisse zu gestalten – ob im Städtebau, anhand von urbaner Intervention oder als partizipativen Prozess. Julia Köpper studierte Architektur an der TU Berlin und der ENSAPLV Paris sowie Europäische Urbanistik an der Bauhaus Universität Weimar. Sie arbeitete in verschiedenen Architektur- und Landschaftsarchitekturbüros u.a. bei Christian de Portzamparc (Paris), Topotek1 (Berlin) und Gehl Architects (Kopenhagen) und war wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Institut für Entwerfen und Städtebau an der Leibniz Universität Hannover.

    julia.koepper(at)tu-berlin.de

  • Jamie-Scott Baxter

    Designer and Research Associate

    Jamie is a post-doctoral researcher, registered architect and urban designer. His work focuses on processes of urban and rural transformation across multiple scales, with a particular focus on human/nonhuman natures and more recently de/colonisation.In 2022 he completed his doctoral thesis entitled “Self-organised/ing Infrastructure Understanding everyday practices of spread and resistance in processes of socio-spatial change on the periphery. Multi-sited ethnographies in rural Portugal and Austria”  on the EUHorizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska–Curie Actions programme. Jamie is currently researching Urban-Nature relations and indigenous knowledges in urban planning in Australia, funded by the Berlin University Alliance. He is leading the living lab “Planetary Design Workshop” also funded by Berlin University Alliance as part of the project “Re-Scaling Global Health. Human Health and Multispecies Cohabitation on an Urban Planet“. Further research interests include critical spatial design, experimental urbanisms, social innovation, critical sociospatail theory including new materialisms, and mapping methodologies.
    Jamie was a senior lecturer and unit leader on the Masters of Architecture programme at the University of East London where he developed a teaching and learning program integrating practice, research, and design with real communities addressing challenges and problems associated with the spatial planning system in the U.K. Since 2012 he leads a small design practice called vandelvelt which has completed spatial design work internationally, with a focus on London and at a range of scales including building, urban, and regional.
  • Safa Ashoub

    PhD Candidate

    Safa Ashoub is a trained political scientist and an urbanist. She holds a double master’s in International Cooperation and Urban Development at the TechnicalUniversity of Darmstadt, Germany & University of Rome II, Italy (2008-2010).

    She also received a third master’s degree in Politics and International Relations (with focus onurban social movements) at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (2012). She wrote her dissertation on: “Egyptian Popular Committees of the January 25 Revolution: The underlying movement and activism”.

    She has been working in the international development field for more than 12 years; at the GIZ, UN Women and UN-Habitat as well as the Egyptian Cabinet of Ministers.

    Currently, she is a PhD candidate at the Chair for Urban Design and Urbanization, Faculty VI Planning Building Environment, Technische Universität Berlin (TUB).

    Her PhD project “Urban Transformations in Cairo’s Middle-Class Neighbourhoods” (WT) is strongly related to her ambition to bring about changes in politics and policy making in her native country, Egypt. Inspired still by her experiences within the so-called period “Arab Spring”, she intends to closely investigate how potentials for democracy can still be assessed in Egyptian society. In her dissertation, she scrutinises the political and social production of urban space by citizens and communities in the middle of the Egyptian socio-economic hierarchy. She investigates current practices in terms of their relation to or evolvement from anti-government protests, activism, and civic mobilisation during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

    Her research interests include social movements, alternative governance, urban activism, middle-class and politics of transition.

    Safa speaks Arabic, English, French and German.

  • Anna Barwanietz

    Student Assistant

    Anna Barwanietz grew up between Berlin and Czech Republic and worked within the film industry before starting her studies of Architecture at TU Berlin in 2020.
    In addition to her work as student assistant at CUD, Anna is part of Roundabout e.V. – a student association grounded in the fields of architecture, art and urbanism.

    Anna Barwanietz wuchs zwischen Berlin und Tschechien auf und arbeitete in der Filmbranche, bevor sie 2020 ihr Architekturstudium an der TU Berlin begann.
    Neben ihrer Tätigkeit am CUD engagiert sich Anna beim Roundabout e.V. – ein studentischer Verein der, sich mit Architektur, Kunst und Urbanistik auseinandersetzt.

  • Franka Matthes

    Student Assistant

    Franka Matthes kommt aus Köln und studiert seit 2020 an der Universität der Künste Berlin Architektur. Zuvor schloss sie ein Bachelor-Studium der Politik- und Sozialwissenschaften in Frankreich ab. Außerdem ist sie Teil des Redaktionsteams der Protocol, ein studentisch geführtes Magazin, das jährlich wechselnde Themen des Architekturdiskurses bearbeitet.

    Franka Matthes is from Cologne and has been studying architecture at the Berlin University of the Arts since 2020. Previously, she completed a bachelor’s degree in political and social sciences in France. She is also part of the editorial team of Protocol, a student-run magazine that deals with different topics of architectural discourse every year.

  • Former Staff Members

    Katharina Hagg, Research Associate

    Mathias Heyden, Research Associate

    Sandra Bartoli, Research Associate

    Anita Kaspar, Research Associate

    Fee Kyriakopoulos, Research Associate

    Joachim Schultz, Research Associate

    Jakob Tigges, Research Associate

    David Levain, Research Associate

    Anne Fenk, Lecturer

    Karin Bradley, Post-Doc

    Daniel Bruns, Student Assistant

    Alexander Grams, Student Assistant

    Hugo Guiomar, Student Assistant

    Dorothee Hahn, Student Assistant

    Leonie Hartung, Student Assistant

    Theresa Jung, Student Assistant

    Malte Kloes, Student Assistant

    Ivan Leroy, Student Assistant

    Johanna Maierski, Student Assistant

    Daniela Mehlich, Student Assistant

    Oscar Mehlitz, Student Assistant

    Florian Müller, Student Assistant

    Kathrin Schömer, Student Assistant

    Frederik Springer, Student Assistant

    Andreas Wende, Student Assistant

    Greta Wörmann, Student Assistant

    Dagmar Pelger, Guest Lecturer & Research Associate

    Seonju Kim, Research Associate

    Menatullah Hendawy, Research Associate & PhD 2021

    Yamil Hasbun Chavarria, PhD 2019

    Sarah Schmidt, Student Assistant

    Karola Schäfermeier, Student Assistant