Prof. Barbara Engel (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), Prof. Christa Reicher (RWTH Aachen University), and Prof. Arnold Bartetzky (GWZO Leipzig) make up the core of the collaborative research group. Owing to different areas of expertise, they combine perspectives from historical and cultural studies (history of art, urban planning and architecture), the scientific study of society and space (urban sociology, urban geography, economic geography), and innovative approaches to the design and management of built environment (heritage conservation, urban development, architecture and urban planning).
GWZO, Leipzig
The Leipzig Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) is a member of the Leibniz Association, and it cooperates closely with the Leipzig University. The GWZO researches the historical and cultural development processes in the region between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas in a comparative perspective and it maintains cooperation with a large number of partners across Eastern Europe.
Prof. Dr. Arnold Bartetzky is Head of the Department “Culture and Imagination” at the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO). He studied art history, German philology, philosophy, history, and, intermittently, architecture in Freiburg, Berlin, Tübingen, Kraków and Berlin. He holds a doctorate in art history from the University of Freiburg. Since 1995 he has been affiliated with the GWZO. In 2016, he was appointed Honorary Professor of Art History at Leipzig University. His works embrace a wide range of topics from the early modern period to the present, with particular emphasis on architecture and visual culture in social contexts. Arnold Bartetzky also serves on several expert committees in areas of science and building culture.
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Dr. Anastasiia Bozhenko is a researcher at Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) in Leipzig and a senior teacher at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Department of Ukrainian Studies. Her research is devoted to the Soviet industrial and architectural heritage and memory studies. She was at residencies at the Center for Urban History of Central and Eastern Europe (Lviv) and the German Historical Institute (Warsaw). She is also a member of the NGOs Urban Forms Center and Art-oborona, which work with architectural modernist heritage.
KIT, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology
As a research university in the Helmholtz Association, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT) creates and imparts knowledge for society and the natural and built environment. The Institute for Urban and Landscape Planning (IESL) and the Institute for Regional Science (IfR) at KIT have been working at the interface between geo, natural and social sciences for over 50 years.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Barbara Engel is an architect and urban planner, since 2013 head of the Chair for International Urbanism at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. After completing her doctorate in 2004, she accepted a lectureship in urban design at the TU Dresden and was visiting professor at Kent State University in Ohio in 2007. From 2008 to 2013 she held a leading position at the City Planning Office in Dresden. Her main research interests include urban development in USSR, in Russia, and in the metropolitan areas of the MENA region as well as open space and knowledge transfer and planning culture. She is a member of the Executive Board of the DASL (German Academy for Urban Development and Regional Planning), the expert jury for national urban development projects, and design committees in Halle and Nürnberg.
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Dr.-Ing. Anastasia Malko is Senior Researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany, architect, urban planner, specialist in the protection of architectural historical and cultural heritage. Dr.-Ing. Malko holds a PhD in Engineering in the Technical University of Dresden (Germany), specializing in the preservation of the historical and cultural heritage and urban development of the city. Work experience includes research abroad in urban planning workshops in Cergy-Pontoise (Les Ateliers Internationaux de Maîtrise d'Oeuvre Urbaine de Cergy-Pontoise, France) and Ecole de Chaillot - an architectural school for the preservation of historical monuments (Paris, France). Dr.-Ing. Malko's research interests and design activities are focused on the search for principles and concepts for the preservation and development of the historical architectural and urban planning environment, including the era of Soviet modernism, taking into account successful foreign experience. One of the main aspects is the importance of urban space and urban structures in the development of the city and the identification of the city and its history with its inhabitants.
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Marina Sapunova is a research assistant and PhD candidate at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Chair for International Urban Planning and Design. She holds a Master’s Degree in Urban Spatial Development and has extensive experience in analytical and team-leading roles within urban and strategic planning projects, concept development, and fieldwork. Her professional background includes working on large-scale urban projects and collaborating with cross-disciplinary teams, as well as contributing to teaching urban planning courses and developing curricula. Her research focuses on post-socialist spatial transformations, with particular attention to property governance, housing policy, zoning legislation, and land-use regulation. Marina is the co-founder and screenwriter of MÊTRE, an investigative documentary project exploring housing and urban regeneration.
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PhD student Ekaterina Gladkova is a researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany. She holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture and a master’s degree in urban planning, including periods of study and research abroad at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Ekaterina is a practicing urban planner. Her research interests and project activities focus on methods, concepts, and approaches to the renovation of residential neighborhoods of the 60s and 70s, including the interaction of public spaces, landscape, and residential groups, as well as scenarios for the renovation of open spaces in these neighborhoods.
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RWTH Aachen University
RWTH Aachen University distinguishes itself as a “University of Excellence”, promoting technological innovation and facilitating the transfer of scientific research into practice. The Faculty of Architecture is one of the leading institutions of this type in Europe, due, among others, to its extensive research activity dedicated to cultural aspects connected to building, cities and landscapes.
Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Christa Reicher heads the Chair of Urban Design and Institute for Urban Design and European Urbanism at the RWTH Aachen University. She has extensive experience in conducting interdisciplinary research projects. This includes the project on post-war modernism within European discourse, launched during the European Year of Cultural Heritage in 2018. She is a founding member of the specialist group on Urban Historic Preservation, which engages with contemporary issues in urban planning and heritage conservation at the intersection of research, practice, and education. Her significant expertise in conceptual development and fostering science-practice dialogues is evidenced, among other contributions, by her role on the Sounding Board for the World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Vienna.
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Dr. Elena Batunova is a senior researcher at the RWTH Aachen University in Germany, an urban and regional planner. She holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning, Design, and Policy from Politecnico di Milano in Italy that included periods spent studying and researching abroad at the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography in Leipzig, Germany and KU Leuven in Belgium. Elena's research interests and project activities include urban shrinkage, post-socialist cities, small and medium-sized cities, urban governance, urban planning, and institutional practices of built heritage preservation and use. She had a leading role in several national and international research projects in urban shrinkage, heritage protection, innovations in urban planning, and mega-events impact on local development.
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Albina Davletshina is a research associate at Chair of Urban Design at RWTH Aachen University with an academic and professional background in urban planning and architecture. She holds a Master of Science in Urban Planning and Policy Design from Politecnico di Milano and a Master’s Degree in Architecture from Ufa State Petroleum Technical University. She has professional experience from Russia, the United States, and Italy, complemented by teaching experience at Politecnico di Milano. Her primary research interests focus on fields of housing, urban resilience, and post-growth development.
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Dr. Liliana Iuga is a research associate at the Chair of Urban Design and Institute for Urban Design and European Urbanism at the RWTH Aachen University, Germany. An urban historian, she received her doctoral degree in Comparative History from the Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, with a thesis on the concept of historic city in socialist Romania. Her academic background includes studies in history and art history at institutions in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and Perugia, Italy, as well as a visiting fellowship at the Centre for Urban History at the University of Leicester, UK. Liliana Iuga’s research encompasses various topics at the intersection of history of architecture, urban planning, and heritage preservation. In addition to her professional experience in project coordination and editorial work, she is currently contributing to a research project investigating the legacies of uranium mining in Romania.
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