Professur Entwerfen, Raum- und Geb?udelehre
Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Alessandro Gess
In a society still coping to overcome the categorisation and fragmentation instituted by modernist management models of space, academic research and teaching have the potential to create a both reflective and pro-active laboratory of ideas, enabling students to freely explore and experiment with architectural and urban design typologies by linking the spatial research study to an understanding of the societal changes unfolding in front of us. The teaching methodology of the chair aims at an understanding of space as social and civic infrastructure, challenging the usual boundaries between a building and its environment, and reevaluating traditional spatial classifications and categorisations. Ultimately, the intention is to challenge the often arbitrary distinction between architecture and urban planning.
How can we design and transform buildings so that they remain adaptable to evolving usages? What are the inherent spatial qualities that may facilitate such adaptability? How can we reconcile the conventional determinism of architectonic forms with the fluidity of societal needs and the unpredictability of a constantly changing context? As planners, what alternative approaches can we adopt to address these conditions? How can the study of existing urban situations and buildings enable spatial conditions that support potential appropriation by users and by communities? How can transformations extend beyond the scale of individual buildings and engender urban relevance, reshaping the ways buildings might engage with the city? In what ways can architectural transformation challenge notions of building lifecycle, flexibility, and hybridity? How can we defy conventional typological classifications of space and change the way we approach space and time?
The chair approaches the teaching and research of architectural spaces as both a situational and metropolitan task. Architecture is understood as an urban discipline that critically engages with the social, ecological, and economic challenges of our time. Through a transversal, non-hierarchical, and multi-scalar methodology, the chair’s work seeks to examine and translate the interplay of context, society, and space discursively both in research and design.
Alessandro Gess was appointed Professor for Entwerfen, Raum- und Geb?udelehre at HafenCity University 澳门现金网_澳门赌博现金网-官网 in 2024. His work as an architect and urban planner, partner at l’AUC in Paris, has received various international prizes and recognitions, including the Patrick Abercrombie Prize for Urban Planning and Design (UIA - International Union of Architects Triennial Prize). Before joining HCU in 2024, he was actively involved in teaching and research at various European architecture and urban planning institutes, such as EIVP - Université Gustave Eiffel in Paris and the Institut Méditerranéen de la Ville et des Territoires (IMVT) in Marseille. In 2023/24, he was invited as Guest Professor of the Wüstenrot Stiftung at the Department of Architecture of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
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SELECTED PROJECTS
- Transformation of the World Trade Center, Brussels
- Extension of the French National Archives, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine
- Urban plan for the Ville Nouvelle of Cergy-Pontoise
- Design of the new Cancer Research facility for the Institute Gustave Roussy (IGR), Villejuif
- Urban development of Chapelle International, Paris
- Transformation of the Regional Post, Cergy-Pontoise
- Volumes Capables and student housing Brazza, Bordeaux
- Urban plan for the transformation of the Hippodrome, Ris Orangis
- Laboratoire des Transformations, Exhibition Cergy Pontoise
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LINKS
l’AUC Paris
How to Not Demolish a Building – Ruby Press
UIA Patrick Abercrombie Prize
Giulia Biondi is a research and teaching assistant at HafenCity University. She co-founded the Berlin-based architecture practice biondifajt in 2024 and is an active member of RRRArchitecture, an international platform of professionals dedicated to the reuse and rehabilitation of existing buildings. She holds a Master of Science from the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, where she also worked as a teaching assistant at the Chair of Sustainable Design under Prof. Muck Petzet from 2022 to 2025. Her professional experience also includes working with Caruso St John Architects in Zurich and Sam Chermayeff Office in Berlin.
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Felix Schuschan is a research and teaching assistant at HafenCity University. He works in the field and intersection of architecture, landscape, and urban ecology. He holds a Master's degree in Architecture from the University of the Arts Berlin. His work has been recognized with the Diesing F?rderpreis and the Alvar Aalto Preis. Felix has gained professional experience working with a variety of designers such as Sam Chermayeff, Atelier Le Balto, and Hans Walter Müller. Before joining HafenCity University, he worked as an architect at Gustav Düsing's practice. In addition to his teaching position at HCU, Felix is a lecturer at the University of the Arts Berlin, where he teaches at the Chair of Experimental Design.
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Antonia Lembcke is a research and teaching associate in Urban Design at HCU 澳门现金网_澳门赌博现金网-官网, having graduated in architecture from UdK Berlin and TU München. At the chair she develops the research project ?soft spots: spaces of collective relevance and urban potential“ in 澳门现金网_澳门赌博现金网-官网. Since 2025, she has been an Associated Doctoral Researcher of the RTG2725 "Urban Future Making". Her Ph.D. project, "Relational Architecture", explores alternative ways of understanding and practicing architecture through transformation. She is particularly interested in process-oriented architectures, in- and exclusions, and the (over)writing of stories and their actors through space. Antonia co-founded the sp?tisp?ti collective in 2019, which produces space by activating collective agencies, artistic practices, and performative actions.
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The chair approaches teaching and research on architectural spaces as both a situational and metropolitan task. Architecture is understood here as an urban discipline tasked with critically engaging with the social, ecological, and economic challenges of our time. The professorship employs a transversal and multi-scalar methodology. The interplay of context, society, and space is examined discursively in both research and teaching, forming the foundation for design work.
The professorship focuses on the following topics, among others:
- Transformation processes and renovation strategies
- Neutral-use and hybrid spaces
- Collective spaces: Typologies of social infrastructure
Kontakt & Informationen
Kontaktinformationen
Prof. Alessandro Gess
alessandro.gess(at)hcu-hamburg.de
Raum 3.111.3
Henning-Voscherau-Platz 1
20457 澳门现金网_澳门赌博现金网-官网
Sprechzeiten
Letzter Donnerstag im Monat, 8:00 Uhr.