People

Participants

Abeer Rabei Younes Abazeed
*1985 in Kuwait, lives in Cairo
University: Cairo University
Last Degree: BA Political Science
Degree Programme: MA Political Science
References: Research focus on the transformation of different neighbourhoods of Cairo by the increasing migration into Egypt.

Mazin Abdulkarim
*1983 in Manama (Bahrain), lives in Cairo
University: Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport, Faculty of Urban Design & Town Planning, Cairo.
Last Degree: MA Architecture
Currently: Teaching Assistent
Refernces: Authored numerous scientific papers that deal with the juxtaposition and contradictions of everyday life in cities.

Mohamed Abotera
*1980 in Giza, lives in Cairo
University: American University and Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Cairo
Last Degree: MA Cultural Identity and Globalization
Currently: Teaching Assistent
References: Interventionprojects and theoretical confrontation with space production in focus of the occupation of the public space during the revolution.

Sally Ashour
*1985 in Giza, lives in Giza
University: Cairo University
Last Degree: MA Political Sciences
Degree Programme: PhD Political Sciences
References: Right of Housing; focused on exploring the using of new districts in Cairo, the differences between the aims and objectives of the national plans and strategies, and the actual use of the dwelling.

Ahmad Borham
*1980 in Saudi Arabia, lives in Cairo
University: Ain Shams University, Cairo
Last degree: BA Architecture
Degree Programme: MA Architectural Design

Felix Blass
*1987 in Saulgau, lives in Hamburg
University: HafenCity University Hamburg
Last Degree: BA Urban Planing
Degree Programme: MA Urban Planing
References: Dynamics of of the urbanization in Africa

Mohamed El-Azzazy
*1985 in Giza, lives in Cairo
University: Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Architectural Engineering & Environmental Design, Cairo
Last Degree: MA Cultural Identity and Globalization
Currently: Teaching Assistant
References: Specialization in cumulative heritage of the historic urban landscape of Cairo (including El-Zamalek)

Katalin Gennburg
*1984 in Weißenfels, lives in Berlin
University: Technical University Berlin (CMS)
Last Degree: BA Philosophy
Degree Programme: MA Metropolitan Studies/Historical Urbanism
References: worked for the German and European Parliament, numerous publications about city and society

Hebatuallah Hendawy
*1990 in Cairo, lives in Cairo
University: Helwan University, Cairo
Degree Programme: BA Architecture
Refernces: Active in dealing with the socio-economics and exploring new realms of possibility of the communities in informal settlements in Cairo

Ebraheem Imam
*1989 in Bilqas (Egypt), lives in Cairo
University: Mansoura University, Cairo
Last Degree: BA Architecture
Degree Programme: MA Architectural Engineering
Refernces: Focused on the traction which urban space can have in socio-political transformations.

Adrian Judt
*1986 in Bünde, lives in Hamburg
University: HafenCity University Hamburg
Last degree: BA Urban Planning
Degree Programme: MA Urban Design
References: Interdisciplinary team work; participation on numerous Workshops

Thomas Kohlwein
*1988, lives in Berlin
University: University of Technology, Berlin
Last Degree: B.A. Urban Studies, Vienna University of Technology
Degree Programme: MA Historical Urban Studies
References: Research focused on relation and influence between architecture and literature in the international context.

Joanna Kusiak
*1985 in Poland, lives in Berlin
University: Technical University Darmstadt
Degree Programme: PhD Urban Studies
Last Degree: MA Sociology
References: Researchfocus on transformation processes in cities using the example of Warschau.

Maja Mijatovic
*1980 in Nürnberg, lives in Hamburg
University: HafenCity University Hamburg
Last Degree: BA Architecture
Degree Programme: MA Urban Design
References: Research on informal settelments in Belgrad

Max Mütsch
*1987 in Heilbronn-Neckargartach, lives in Istanbul
University: Karlsruher Institute of Technology
Last Degree: Undergraduate Diploma Architecture
Degree Programme: Diploma Architecture
References: Social communities and architecture and its relation concerning the daily use

Noel David Nicolaus
*1980 in Preetz, lives in Berlin
University: Humboldt University Berlin
Last Degree: Diploma Political and Social Sciences
Degree Programme: PhD European Ethnology
References: Political activist relating to problems and possibilities of contemporary city.

Jean-Paul Olivier
*1982 in Berlin, lives in Berlin
University: Kunsthochschule Weißensee, Berlin
Last Degree: BA Cultural Studies
Degree Programme: MA Space Strategies
References: performative research under the topic of public sapce and its production

Yiannis Pappas
*1978 in Patmos (Greece), lives in Berlin
University: Kunsthochschule Weißensee, Berlin
Last Degree: BA Fine Arts, Athens (Greece)
Degree Programme: MA Space Strategies
References: several videoprojects and transdisciplinary Interventions, which dealed with public spaces

Salma Sherif
*1988 in Cairo, lives in Cairo
University: Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Cairo
Last Degree: BA Architecture
Degree Programme: MA Architecture
References: Research interests about production of playgrounds and the associated potential spaces for neighbourhoods

Mariam Waheed
*1988 in Giza, lives in Giza
University: Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University
Last Degree : BA Political Sciences
Degree Programme : MA Political Sciences
References: research focus is “body and public spaces” during the occupation of the tahrir square during the revolution in 2011.

Lecturer

Hamburg

Ingrid Breckner
Ingrid Breckner, Dr. rer. soc, is a sociologist and university professor; born 1954 in Medias / Romania.
Study of education and sociology at the University of Munich. Re- search on media education and urban development in Munich. Doctorate in sociology at the University of Bielefeld. Teaching in Weihenstephan, Munich and Bochum. Project development and scientific support EU pilot project Wohnforum Munich gGmbH. 1994/95 visiting professor at the University of Kassel. Since 1995 professor for urban sociology and regional planning at the Technical University Hamburg-Harburg,since 2006 HafenCity University Hamburg. Recent research has focused on the issues of urban sprawl, social city, uncertainty in european cities, mobility and integrated urban development strategies.
More detailed information on Prof. Ingrid Breckner’ s research and teaching-activities can be found on www.hcu-hamburg.de.

Zegeye Cherenet
Zegeye Cherent is an architect and urbanist from Addis Ababa / Ethiopia. He earned his B.Sc. in Architecture and Urban Planning from Addis Ababa University 1994 and received his Master in Architecture (with Honor) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT, Roorkee) in 1998. He has been teaching design at the department of architecture at Addis Ababa University (AAU) since 2000 and served as guest lecturer in various colleges and universities in Ethiopia and abroad on theories in contemporary and vernacular architecture in Ethiopia and trends of urbanization in North-East Africa. He was academic guest (August 2006 – August 2007) of the department of architecture in ETH Zurich, teaching design and construction at the department of Professor Marc Angelil and Professor Andrea Deplaz. He served as a chairman of the department curriculum committee for Architecture at AAU since 2005 and also as general secretary of the Association of Ethiopian Architects (AEA, 2004-2008). In addition to teaching architectural design, Zegeye Cherent runs his own studio with his partners in Addis Ababa (OADUS architecture and engineering-office for architecture, design and urban studies). He has designed and built many private and public buildings in various places in Ethiopia. He is currently serving as a deputy director of EiABC (Ethiopian institute of Architecture, Building construction and City development at AAU) and isalso a chair holder of architecture and design in the institute (October 2009-February 2011).

Christopher Dell
Christopher Dell is a jazz-musician, composer and architectural theorist, born 1965 in Darmstadt / Germany. He works as a theorist, curator and percussionist at the interface between architecture and arts. His research focuses on applied theory, improvisation as technology, performance and space. He is director of ifit - institute for improvisation technology, based in Berlin. From 2008 to 2010 he was visiting professor at the urban design chair at HafenCity University (HCU) Hamburg.

Jesko Fezer
Jesko Fezer is professor of experimental design at Hochschule für Bildende Künste (HfbK) in Hamburg since 2011. Fezer works as an architect, author, designer, artist and as curator. In collaboration with »ifau« (»institut für angewandte urbanistik« / »institute for applied urbanism«), he has created architectural projects in Munich, Graz, Utrecht, Stuttgart, Berlin, New York and London. After jointly running the »Pro qm« specialist book store – specialising in urban subjects, politics, pop, economic criticism, architecture, design, art and theory – he became co-editor of the political architecture magazine »An Architektur. Produktion und Gebrauch gebauter Umwelt« and co-founder of the »Kooperative für Darstellungspolitik« research and exhibition design studio. In 2009 and 2010, lectureships at numerous institutes for arts and architecture and a visiting professorship in architectural theory and urban research at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Nuremberg were followed by a post as director of the research project »Civic City. Design for the Post-Neoliberal City« at the Institut für Designforschung at Züricher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK). Jesko Fezer researches and publishes about architecture and design history in the post-war era, on design methods, participation and on the politics of design. He is a member of the board of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Designtheorie und -Forschung (DGTF) since 2011 and is also a member of the Hamburger Kunstkommission.

Marjetica Potrc
Marjetica Potrc is a Ljubljana-based artist and architect. Her work has been exhibited extensively throughout Europe and the Americas, including such major exhibitions as the Venice Biennial (1993, 2003 and 2009), the São Paulo Biennial (1996 and 2006), Projekte in Muenster (1997), and others. She has taught at a number of important institutes in Europe and North America, including the IUAV Faculty of Arts and Design in Venice (2008 and 2010); the Advanced Course in Visual Arts at the Fondazione Antonio Ratti in Como, Italy (2006); the Städelschule Art Academy in Frankfurt am Main (2006); and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2005). She was also an associate professor at the design department at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana from 1993 to 2004. In addition, she was a lecturer for the Architectural League (New York), Goldsmiths College (London), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the National College of Art and Design (Dublin), The New School University (New York) and many others.
Marjetica Potrc has been the recipient of numerous awards, including grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation (in 1993 and 1999); the Hugo Boss Prize 2000, administered by the Guggenheim Museum; a Caracas Case Project Fellowship from the Federal Cultural Foundation in Germany, the Caracas Urban Think Tank, Venezuela (2002); and the Vera List Center for Arts and Politics Fellowship at The New School in New York (2007).

Cairo

Paul Amar
Paul Amar is an associate professor in the global & international studies program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, specializing in international security studies, political sociology, global ethnography, and gender/race/postcolonial theory. He holds affiliate appointments in Feminist Studies, Sociology, Middle East Studies and Latin American & Iberian Studies. His research traces the origins and intersections of new patterns of police militarization, security governance, humanitarian intervention and state restructuring in the megacities of the global south.

Nabeel Elhady
Nabeel Elhady is a professor and architect born in 1964. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture with honors from Cairo University where he was also awarded the Masters of Architecture and then the Doctorate of Architecture in 1997. He used to be a fellow of the Architectural Association in London 1992/93. He was also a Visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley during 1994-95. Currently he teaches Architectural design, History of urban form, Aestetics and Architectural criticism in Cairo University.In addition, He intiated and organized (through the architectural dept. at cairo university) the annual architectural students’ competiton. He also organizes the public lectures by the international members of the jury. Besides the academic responsibilities he is a practicing architect in his private practice named “noon” since 1998. Through the projects undertaken by the office, continuous attempts are made to blend theories with realities in order to bring about architecture that respects humanity and nature.

Hans Harms
Hans Harms teaches at the Technical University in Hamburg-Harburg and part time at the Development Planning Unit, University College London. He has worked for many years on housing and urban renewal in Latin America and has published widely on housing and self-help strategies in Germany as well as in the South.

Reem Saad
An associate research professor at the social research center Reem Saad, received her Dr. Phil. in social anthropology from the University of Oxford in 1994. Her thesis title was “Peasants’ perception of recent Egyptian history”. Her research interests include rural Egypt, historical anthropology, issues of public culture and ethnographic film. She was Ioma Evans- Pritchard Junior Research Fellow at St. Anne’s College in Oxford between 1993-95. At SRC she is an associate research professor. She is the author of a monograph and numerous articles on villages and peasants in contemporary Egypt. She has participated as an anthropologist in the BBC documentary “Marriage Egyptian Style”, 1992, and was assistant director of the documentary “Four Women of Egypt”, produced by the Canadian National Film Board, 1997.

Dina Shehayeb
Dina K. Shehayeb, is a professor in the institute of architecture and housing, at the Housing and Building National Research Center (HBRC) in Cairo, Egypt, as well as the principle of her private consultancy firm Shehayeb CONSULT. Graduated as an architect in 1984, she earned her Ph.D. Degree in architecture and environment-behavior studies from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in 1995, focusing on human aspects in design and planning. Specialized in transdisciplinary research, she works on bridging the gap between the physical built environment and its socio- psychological and cultural dimensions. She applies this knowledge through research and practice on affordable/appropriate housing, community-based neighbourhood planning, historic area conservation and design guideline on a national and international scale. She worked with the Aga Khan Cultural Services- Egypt, German Technical Cooperation - GTZ, Egypt, the Institut de Recherche et Development _ IRD, France, the UN-Habitat Gender Unit, Nairobi, Oikodrom, Vienna and UCLA on commissioned research projects and research based interventions in upgrading- and rehabilitation projects. She serves in several committees such as code development committees in Egypt and advisory boards for UN-HABITAT and other international organizations.

Diane Singerman
Dr. Singerman is an associate professor at American University in Cairo and a comparativist, whose research interests focus on political change from below, particularly in the Middle East, and more specifically Egypt. Her work examines the formal and informal side of politics, gender, social movements, globalization, public space, protest, and urban politics. Her most recent edited books are Cairo Contested: Governance, Urban Space, and Global Modernity, and „Cairo Cosmopolitan: Politics, Culture, and Urban Space in the New Globalized Middle East.

Omar Nagati
Omar Nagati is a Ph.D candidate and a practicing architect/urban planner who currently lives in Cairo. A graduate of Cairo University, he studied and taught at University of British Columbia and University of California Berkeley, with a specific focus on informal urbanism. Nagati adopts an interdisciplinary approach to questions of urban history and design, and engages in a comparative analysis of urbanization processes in developing countries. He teaches Urban Design Studio at the Modern Sciences and Arts University in Giza and has recently cofounded CLUSTER, a new platform for urban research and design initiatives downtown Cairo.
Nagati has widely presented his research on Cairo in several cities and institutions in Europe and North America, including Bari (2003), Vancouver (2004), Venice (2006), Vienna (2007), Copenhagen (2007), Cairo (2009), Berlin (2010), Harvard (2010), Zagreb (2010) and Leeds (2012).

Team

Sarah Asseel
*1982 in Giza, lives in Hamburg
University: HafenCity University Hamburg
Last Degree: BA Architecture
Degree Programme: MA Urban Design
Research interests: Research and methodology, architecture, housing and adaptation. As a student assistant she has planned several events and workshops. Besides doing her own research in Cairo, Sarah has been working as a junior consultant in the GIZ for the past 5 months.

Salma Belal
*1990 in Cairo, lives in Cairo
University: Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Cairo
Last Degree: BA Architecture
Currently: working as an architect for ‚TAKWEEN for integrated community development‘ in Cairo

Lene Benz
*1985 in Tübingen, lives in Hamburg
University: HafenCity University Hamburg
Last Degree: BA Sociology and Political Science
Degree Programme: MA Urban Design
References: Research interests expand to social theory, urban studies and planning, housing concepts and ethnology. As a student assistant she planned cultural and academic events as well as conferences and workshops.

Katharina Böttger
*1986 in Frankfurt am Main, lives in Hamburg
University: HafenCity University Hamburg
Last Degree: BA Geography, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Degree Programme: MA Urban Design
References: Research interest in humangeografischen, sociological and ethnographic issues in the urban context. She was a student assistant in the Office of Urban Development and the time tutor in Project Management in the Department of Culture of the metropolis.

Salma Dahab
*1992 in Giza, lives in Giza
University: Cairo University
Degree Programme: BA Political Science
References: Interseted in Political Theory, Political Sociology, Urban Theory and Cultrual analysis. Attending seminars, conferences and events concering these disciplines.

Lukas Grellmann
*1982 in Stade, lives in Hamburg
University: HafenCity University Hamburg
Last Degree: BA Social Science
Degree Programme: MA Urban Design
References: He is interested in planning strategies that provide alternatives to investment driven urban development in rapidly growing cities in the global south. His current work is addressing public parks and their role in the development of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Aya Nassar
*1984 in England, lives in Cairo
University: Cairo University
Last Degree: MA Economics and Political Science
Degree Programme: PhD Political Theory
References: She has written on Cyberspace

Nihal Ragab
*1987 in Cairo, lives in Lund (Sweden)
University: Cairo University
Last Degree: M.A. Economics and Political Science
Degree Programme: MA Applied Cultural Analysis (MACA)
References: She is generally interested in sustainability in terms of community-based sustainability, and not just individual-based sustainability that targets building individual careers disconnected from their communities. Moreover she is studying marginalized communities.

Mathias Schnell
*1985 in Dornbirn (Austria), lives in Hamburg
University: HafenCity University Hamburg
Last Degree: BA Space & Design Strategies
Degree Programme: MA Urban Design
References: Besides studying, Mathias is project assistant at GKT Hamburg, where he gained experience in planning workshops with international architects

Philipp Wetzel
*1985 in Leipzig, lives in Hamburg
University: HafenCity University Hamburg
Last Degree: BA Urban Planning
Degree Programme: MA Urban Planning
References: Research interests in effects of transport and common spaces in developing countries. Concerning to that he is looking for new planning procedures.

Professors

Prof. Bernd Kniess
Bernd Kniess is a Professor for Urban Planning/Urban Design at HCU Hamburg and since 2008 dean of the master program Urban Design at HCU. Together with Michael Koch and Christopher Dell, he initiated the teaching and research project „University of the neighbourhoods“ (UdN). He studied Architecture and Urban Design in Darmstadt and Berlin, since 1995 he works as an independent architect, also teaching among others at RWTH Aachen and the University of Wuppertal. Since 2009 Bernd Kniess is member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Prof Dr. Mohammed Soffar
Dr. Soffar is the current director of the center for civilizational studies and dialogue at Cairo University, he is also assistant professor for political theory at the department for political science at Cairo University. Dr. Soffar received his PhD in Political Theory on the topic: “The political theory of Sayyid Qutb: a genealogy of discourse from Freie Universität Berlin in 2004.