Habitat Unit

Design Studio SoSe 2024
Dr. Juliana Soares Gomes Canedo, Prof. Dr. Anke Hagemann

Insurgent Design
Unlearning practices through marginalized spaces and communities

Through a set of collaborative methods and tools for mapping and design the studio proposes  to develop a critical understanding of the role of architects and urbanists, especially in contexts of marginalized spaces and communities.

The studio intends to promote a transdisciplinary debate by focusing on the perceptions of inclusion of refugees in Berlin, and by collaborating closely with local actors and institutions. Thus, it encourages students to reflect on the integrative and co-productive role of city-building professionals and to devise  scenarios that aim to transform the current situation.
The discussions will address issues of spatial conflicts and negotiation, insurgent planning and design, the right to the city, housing vs. shelter from the perspective of institutional barriers, architectural and infrastructural elements and social-spatial dynamics.


Photo: © Ani Tashi and Yueqing Wu  

In close collaboration withe the Senate’s integration program “BENN” in Marzahn, students will have the opportunity to engage with local actors and the community, develop activities and interventions and establish a dialog with refugees living in Berlin shelters. 

The studio is a cooperation of the research project „Beyond the Shelter: Limits and Possibilities between Departure and Endurance in Refugee Shelters in Berlin“ (DFG) with Juliana Canedo, the project „Architectures of Asylum“ (SFB: 1265 Re-figurations of Space“, DFG) with Qusay Amer and Francesca Ceola, as well as Maureen Abi-Ghanem, Tuanne Monteiro and Saba Barani. The Studio will be developed in cooperation with the Seminar Contemporary Arab Urbanism and joint activities will be planned. 

A PIV connected to the Studio will deal with broader theoretical questions related to migration and refugee studies; it will be conducted as a lecture series in cooperation with “Architectures of Asylum”. 

Download poster here.

Course Information+

Design Studio
12 ECTS + 3 ECTS (PIV)
MA UD: PJ 1-3 EP
M Arch: EP Städtebau I
MA Arch T: PJ 1-3

Teaching Day
Thursdays, from 10 am
Studio A202

Open Studio
10th of April, 2024, 4 am
Studio A202

First Meeting
18th of April, 2024, 10 am
Studio A202

Application
ISIS tba

Teaching Staff
Dr. Juliana Soares Gomes Canedo
Prof. Dr. Anke Hagemann