Dr Mirna Pedalo is a London-based architectural practitioner, researcher and scholar interested in the intersection of architecture, urban development, finance, and environmental issues in post-conflict societies, particularly in the Western Balkans. Trained as an architect in her native Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mirna holds MAs in Architecture and Visual Cultures from the University of Westminster, and a PhD from the Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths, University of London. In 2019, Mirna was a recipient of the RIBA President’s Award for Research in the Cities and Community category and is one of the founding members of DocomomoBH. She works as an Associate Lecturer at the Royal College of Art, University of Westminster, and Oxford Brookes University. Mirna is also a Steering Member and the Education Cluster co-lead at Architects for Gaza.
Architects for Gaza
Architects for Gaza (AFG) is a global network of architects, designers and environmentalists standing against human and ecological destruction in Gaza. Founded by the architects Yara Sharif and Nasser Golzari, whose professional and academic careers have been largely invested in working within the context of Palestine and with Palestinians, AFG is organized around two main clusters: Rebuild and Education.
Rebuild Cluster is dedicated to the advancement of citizenship & community development, and the relief of poverty and displacement in Gaza. AFG is committed to working in close collaboration with local populations and organisations, and supporting interdisciplinary self-help clusters located strategically wherever people have set up refuge. AFG is equally dedicated to exploring sustainable self-help prototypes to empower the displaced communities of Gazans and commits its skills and resources as built environment professionals to support Palestinians to rebuild Gaza and their lives. In close contact with local community actors in Gaza as well as international bodies, AFG’s aim is to enable support on the ground, provide technical and research support in kind, and to fundraise from the architectural and built environment community.
Education Cluster is dedicated to the advancement of education for the public benefit. Through the platform Gaza Global University, a hybrid virtual and physical institution brings together academics and practitioners to offer educational support to Palestinian students, scholars and academics of architecture and related courses, such as design and urbanism.
RIWAQ- centre for architectural conservation based in Ramallah- was set in motion in 1991 when a group of enthusiasts came together in an organized effort to save historic buildings in Palestine. RIWAQ’s mission is to protect, restore, and rehabilitate the architectural and cultural heritage in Palestine through its main programs; the Restoration Program, the Regeneration of the 50 Most Significant Historic Centers, and the Community and Cultural Program. RIWAQ contributes to the production and dissemination of knowledge about heritage through its Research and Publications Program including the Registry of Historic Buildings in Palestine, and works, in collaboration with other actors, on building a conducive institutional and legal environment.
Eleanor is a writer, critic and deputy editor at London-based international architecture magazine The Architectural Review. First printed in 1896, the AR’s current editorial agenda is informed by tireless curiosity, questioning and dialogue, scouring the margins and evolving a careful and rigorous mode of editorial practice. As a writer, she is interested in untangling questions of social and climate justice, with a focus on housing and projects of degrowth.
About The Architectural Review
The Architectural Review is an international architecture magazine, publishing independent critical writing about the designed world since 1896. The AR investigates the forces that shape homes, cities and landscapes, engaging with the social, cultural and political context in which architecture sits.
About the Lecture: An editorial practice in times of crisis
This talk will trace the shape of The Architectural Review‘s editorial practice in relation to the settler colonial project in Palestine.
Tomà Berlanda is Full Professor of Architectural Technology at the Politecnico di Torino, Honorary Research Associate at the University of Cape Town, and co-founder of astudio.space architecture & urbanism. One of the first graduates of the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio and holding a PhD from the Politecnico di Torino, he has built a twenty-five-year body of work around the notion of ground, in which practice, teaching, and scholarship operate as a single project.
Over a long stint in Eastern and Southern Africa, what started as a concern with topography in Europe became a matter of working with communities. Through collaborative practice he has designed and built early childhood development centres, schools, and health facilities under conditions of material scarcity, alongside creative installations for international exhibitions and biennales that reflect from the South.
He has served, among other things, as a reviewer for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, nominator for the Obel Award, academic board member of the African Futures Institute, and editorial contributor to the Architectural Review.
More recently, building on fieldwork in Palestine, his work asks what the ground becomes when it is at once a contested surface, an archive of dispossession, and a site of liberatory practice. Recent publications include Landwalks: Across Palestine and South Africa(editor, 2022), Architecture of Commonality: Grounds for Hope (editor, 2024), and Palestina. Architettura e Genocidio (co-author, 2025).
The Lecture: Working in Rubble, Time, and Palestine
The lecture works from rubble. Not as the residue of a destruction now ended, but as the material condition of the present, where the ground has been torn apart materially, politically, and humanly. It approaches reconstruction not as a stage after violence but as a continuous condition lived through destruction, suspension, scarcity, and care. It moves close to Palestine while staying aware of distance, and insists that reconstruction is inseparable from the bodies that endure its absence: the wounds carried, the interrupted genealogies, the lives forced to rebuild themselves while the rubble keeps being made.
The argument grows from a question that has resurfaced across three years of conversations, paused manuscripts, and talks held in the presence of overwhelming loss: how does one think, teach, or build when the conditions for life are under assault, when even the unborn carry the marks of war, when sixty million tonnes of debris become the new ground on which people sleep, cook, and bury their dead?
The lecture proceeds by fragments — on Time, Gardens and Ecologies, Rubble, Pedagogy, Reconstruction — each approaching the question from a different angle, all returning to the same difficulty: what does it mean to reconstruct when the rubble will not stop, when time is weaponised, when both land and people bear the imprint of devastation?
Rather than offering solutions, the lecture asks the audience to move among incomplete pieces, to sense what remains unsaid, and to recognise how the wounding of land and the wounding of bodies are part of the same terrain. It closes with what it means to remain present, and to think politically, when the very basis of life is rubble. Palestine, throughout, is not a site to be explained but a place from which to rethink architecture, ethics, and care from within the rubble itself.
Pierluigi Turco is a qualified architect with over a decade of international experience across Italy, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East. He studied architecture in Palermo (UNIPA), Vilnius (VGTU), and Paris (ENSAPM), before moving to London to pursue a Master’s in Sustainable Environmental Design at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, where he developed a strong foundation in environmental and performance-driven design.
He began his professional career at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in London, working as an Associate Designer on large-scale international projects across various stages, from concept design to construction and competitions. During his time at SOM, he was actively involved in both the High-Performance Design (HPD) and Sustainability groups, contributing to the integration of advanced environmental strategies within complex architectural schemes.
In 2019, Pierluigi relocated to Kuwait to join PACE – Architecture, Engineering and Planning as a Lead Designer. There, he led multidisciplinary teams on a range of educational and cultural projects, with a strong focus on mentoring young architects. Among his key achievements is the PAHW 3 Schools project, for which his team won a major international competition to design three prototype schools for the Kuwaiti government. The project was later awarded “Best Future Project” by AIA Middle East.
In 2022, he co-founded a_fact | architecture factory together with Giovanni Sanna and Andrea Rossi, with the aim of developing innovative and sustainable architectural and master planning projects at an international scale. He currently leads the London office, opened in 2023, overseeing projects that combine design excellence with a data-driven approach to sustainability.
Pierluigi is a registered architect in the UK and a licensed engineer in Italy. Alongside his professional practice, he is actively engaged in academia as a visiting lecturer and tutor at institutions including Politecnico di Milano, the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture, and the Architectural Association, where he teaches a module on Sustainable Cities within the Sustainable Environmental Design programme. In 2025, he was invited to serve as a juror for the last edition prestigious Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Design Awards.
a_fact | architecture factory is an architecture studio founded in 2022 by Andrea Rossi, Giovanni Sanna, and Pierluigi Turco, with offices in Milan and London. The practice brings together architects, engineers, and designers with a shared vision: to rethink the spaces we inhabit by combining design, innovation, and sustainability.
The studio’s approach is rooted in a careful analysis of context and client needs, transformed through a creative process into resilient, human-centered environments. By collaborating with multidisciplinary experts, a_fact develops forward-thinking solutions that enhance well-being while addressing environmental, social, and economic challenges.
Central to its philosophy is “factual sustainability,” inspired by a data-driven understanding of the world. This method allows the studio to translate complex information into pragmatic, circular design strategies that promote harmony between built environments and nature.
a_fact works across a wide range of scales and typologies—from residential buildings to masterplans, cultural spaces, and production facilities—always balancing aesthetics with functionality. The studio gained international recognition in 2024, winning major competitions including the Museum Complex and Art Park in Podgorica and the Bertalia-Lazzaretto eco-district in Bologna.
Alongside competition work, a_fact is engaged in diverse international projects, from residential developments in Rome to hospitality projects in Canada and Southern Italy. A key focus of the studio’s research is the adaptive reuse of existing buildings, reducing land consumption and transforming underutilized spaces into vibrant, sustainable environments.
“Every project is a precise act of transformation, rooted in context and guided by intention. It is measurable, situated, and accountable. It reflects the complexity of its environment and contributes to its long-term resilience. Through this lens, design becomes a cultural and environmental responsibility — an opportunity to shape the future with clarity, humility, and purpose. We design architectures that behave, adapt, and endure. Systems rather than shapes. Relationships rather than objects. Meaning rather than gestures.”
Clara Pimenta do Vale is an architect, graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FAUP, 1991), with a Master’s in Building Construction from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP, 1999) and a PhD in Architecture from FAUP (2012), with a dissertation on the built history of Porto’s Boavista axis — a contribution to the history of twentieth-century construction in Portugal.
She has taught at FAUP since 1999 and is currently an Associate Professor and member of the Executive Board. Her teaching spans construction technology, building rehabilitation, circular economy and conscious design, traditional materials and techniques, and research methodologies — across the Integrated Master’s in Architecture, the Advanced Studies Course in Architectural Heritage, the Doctoral Programme in Architecture, and the Master’s in Integrated Building Design and Construction at FEUP.
She is an Integrated Researcher at CENP — the Nuno Portas Centre for Studies at FAUP — where she coordinates the Studies in the History of Construction research line and participates in several funded national and international research projects. Her research focuses on Construction History, Vernacular Architecture, building materials from historical to contemporary perspectives, and the intersection of sustainability, rehabilitation, and reuse.
Since 2019, she has coordinated the curricular unit Circular Construction, Conscious Design and Certification — one of the first courses in Portugal to embed circular thinking as a design culture within architectural education. She is a founding board member of No News (Nada Novo), an association that promotes the reuse of construction components and materials and explores the cultural challenges of their application in contemporary architecture. Her ongoing intervention at the Orange Grove House in Minho is a direct embodiment of these concerns: a design experiment in which material existence and conservation principles drive every decision.
She is a member of SPEHC, the Construction History Society, ICOMOS-CIPA, and APRUPP. She supervises PhD research at FAUP, FBAUP, FEUP, TU Delft, and the University of Aveiro, and has supervised more than 60 Master’s dissertations. She is co-author of four books and author or co-author of more than 80 other publications. She practised as an architect between 1991 and 2004 and is also a photographer, with work shown in several exhibitions.
The Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FAUP) is an organic unit of the University of Porto and a centre for the creation, transmission, and diffusion of disciplinary knowledge in the fields of architecture, construction, and urban studies. Founded in 1979 as the successor to the architecture course taught at the School of Fine Arts of Porto (ESBAP), FAUP inherited a pedagogical tradition reaching back to figures such as José Marques da Silva and Carlos Ramos, and inaugurated by Fernando Távora — one of the founding figures of what became internationally known as the Porto School.
The Porto School is recognised worldwide as one of the most influential movements in contemporary architecture, distinguished by its emphasis on the relationship between a building and its place, on drawing as a primary tool of architectural thinking, and on the ethical and cultural dimensions of architectural practice. FAUP is one of the very few schools in the world to count two Pritzker Prize winners — Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura — among its former students and professors, a distinction that reflects both the depth of the school’s pedagogical culture and its capacity to produce architecture of lasting international significance.
The faculty is housed at Campus Campo Alegre in Porto, in a building complex designed by Álvaro Siza himself — making the school’s physical environment an extension of its intellectual one. FAUP offers an Integrated Master’s degree in Architecture, a doctoral programme in Architecture, and, in partnership with the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, a Master’s in Urban Planning and Design.
Research at FAUP is conducted through CENP — the Nuno Portas Centre for Studies (formerly CEAU, the Centre for Studies in Architecture and Urbanism), renamed in 2025 in honour of one of the most influential figures in Portuguese architecture, urbanism, and housing policy of the twentieth century. CENP is devoted to the promotion and development of artistic and scientific research and technological innovation in the fields of architecture, construction, and urban planning, bringing together researchers working across architectural history, construction cultures, design theory, heritage, and urbanism.
Nothing New: Circularity in Architectural Education and Practice
For millennia, experience has taught us to reuse what we have — in clothing, furniture, and building materials. Yet each generation of modernity has tended to break with this wisdom, treating rupture as progress. Now, as the finiteness of planetary resources has moved from isolated concern to political urgency, architecture and construction face the need for a new paradigm shift: one in which reuse — of materials, components, and entire buildings — becomes a mainstream choice rather than an exception.
This lecture argues that such a shift must be cultivated simultaneously in education and in practice. Drawing on the curricular unit Circular Construction, Conscious Design and Certification (FAUP, 2019–present), it presents pedagogical strategies for embedding circular thinking into architectural training — from material literacy and life-cycle awareness to deconstruction logics and the ethics of resource stewardship. It then turns to No News (Nada Novo), a platform that foregrounds the expressive and ethical potential of existing materials and structures as a cultural proposition.
The lecture concludes with the Orange Grove House intervention — an ongoing project in Minho, Portugal, in which the design method is driven by material existence: what is already there, what can be recovered, and what the inventory of the place makes possible. Together, these three registers — pedagogy, platform, and practice — point toward the same conclusion: that circularity is less a technical methodology than a disposition, a form of conscious design — an attentiveness to the value latent in what already exists.
Mayra Deberg is a Brazilian architect and urban planner whose work explores alternative responses to the environmental challenges of the construction industry, particularly the depletion of natural resources and the generation of waste. She holds a Master’s degree in Industrial and Product Design from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto, where she developed the thesis “A Design Contribution to the Issue of Construction Waste: Reinterpreting the Traditional Terrazzo Technique in Decorative Objects.” The project received recognition in international competitions such as the Green Concept Award, iF Design Student Award, and Distributed Design, and was exhibited at Vienna Design Week, the Art and Design Biennale in Funchal, MaterialDistrict, MUDE – Design Museum, and other design and cultural platforms.
She is currently pursuing a PhD in Design at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto, supported by a doctoral scholarship from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. Her research continues this investigation through a reflection on the materiality and memory embedded in construction and demolition waste, exploring how residual matter can be reintegrated into architectural components through circular design strategies. Alongside her academic work, she has developed projects, exhibitions, workshops, and publications that connect material experimentation, craftsmanship, digital manufacturing, and sustainable approaches to design. She is also a member of Portugal Manual, a platform that promotes brands and products created by artisans, artists, and designers based in Portugal.
Institution // The Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto is a higher education institution dedicated to teaching and research in art, design, and visual culture. It combines studio-based practice with theoretical and critical inquiry, fostering interdisciplinary approaches that engage material experimentation, contemporary technologies, and cultural reflection within the fields of art and design.
During the Kosovo Architecture Festival 2026 Mayra will be co-mentoring a 5 days workshop focused on Palestinian territories together with Young Palestinian Architecture Fellows, as well as hold a keynote lecture.
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Mayra Deberg është arkitekte dhe urbaniste braziliane, puna e së cilës hulumton zgjidhje alternative ndaj sfidave mjedisore të industrisë së ndërtimit, veçanërisht shterimit të burimeve natyrore dhe gjenerimit të mbetjeve. Ajo mban një diplomë Masteri në Dizajn Industrial dhe të Produkteve nga Fakulteti i Arteve të Bukura i Universitetit të Portos, ku zhvilloi tezën „Një kontribut i dizajnit në çështjen e mbetjeve të ndërtimit: Riinterpretimi i teknikës tradicionale Terrazzo në objekte dekorative“. Ky projekt mori vlerësime në gara ndërkombëtare si Green Concept Award, iF Design Student Award dhe Distributed Design, si dhe u ekspozua në Javën e Dizajnit në Vjenë (Vienna Design Week), Bienalen e Artit dhe Dizajnit në Funchal, Material District, muzeun MUDE – Design Museum dhe platforma të tjera kulturore e të dizajnit.
Aktualisht po ndjek studimet e doktoratës (PhD) për Dizajn në Fakultetin e Arteve të Bukura të Universitetit të Portos, e mbështetur nga një bursë doktorate nga Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. Kërkimi i saj shkencor vazhdon këtë hulumtim përmes një reflektimi mbi materia litetin dhe kujtesën e ngulitur në mbetjet e ndërtimit dhe rrënimit, duke eksploruar se si lënda mbetjeve mund të riintegrohet në komponentët arkitektonikë përmes strategjive të dizajnit qarkullues. Krahas punës së saj akademike, ajo ka zhvilluar projekte, ekspozita, punëtori dhe botime që lidhin eksperimentimin me materialet, artizanatin, prodhimin digjital dhe qasjet e qëndrueshme ndaj dizajnit. Ajo është gjithashtu anëtare e Portugal Manual, një platformë që promovon markat dhe produktet e krijuara nga artizanët, artistët dhe dizajnerët me bazë në Portugali.
Institucioni // Fakulteti i Arteve të Bukura i Universitetit të Portos është një institucion i arsimit të lartë i dedikuar mësimdhënies dhe kërkimit shkencor në art, dizajn dhe kulturë vizuale. Ai ndërthur praktikën e bazuar në studio me kërkimin teorik dhe kritik, duke nxitur qasje ndërdisiplinore që angazhojnë eksperimentimin me materialet, teknologjitë bashkëkohore dhe reflektimin kulturor brenda fushave të artit dhe dizajnit.
Gjatë Festivalit të Arkitekturës në Kosovë 2026 (KAF 2026), Mayra do të jetë bashkë-mentore e një punëtorie 5-ditore të fokusuar në territoret palestineze, së bashku me Arkitektët e Rinj Palestinezë (Young Palestinian Architecture Fellows), si dhe do të mbajë një ligjëratë kryesore (keynote lecture).
Diogo Matos Rodrigues is an architect, designer, and researcher whose work explores the intersections of spatial agency, participatory design, and collaborative “Design and Build” initiatives. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto (FAUP) and a research fellow of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). His thesis, “Design and Build: An Integrated Approach to Self-Building, Co-creation, and Technology to Face the Housing Crisis,” investigates how democratizing technical knowledge can address global housing challenges.Diogo holds a Master’s degree from FAUP, where his dissertation, “Learning in Architecture: Working in Collective(s),” analyzed the pedagogical and social impact of architectural collectives. His commitment to social and ecological issues led him to the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) by the U.S. Department of State, focusing on climate change challenges, for which he later received the IVLP Impact Award in 2023. He is the founder and president of Associação Ponto Parágrafo, an NGO dedicated to the pedagogical, ecological, and political importance of architecture in relation to youth and communities. Through this platform, he has organized numerous workshops, ranging from modular pavilion self-construction in rural Portugal to rammed earth and adobe experimentation at FAUP. His practice bridges vernacular wisdom with emerging digital tools, such as digital fabrication, to create sustainable and accessible built solutions.In addition to his academic and NGO work, Diogo has a significant background in architectural activism and editorial leadership, having served as the director of Dédalo Magazine. For the Kosovo Architecture Festival, he is coordinating a workshop with Palestinian architects, focusing on architecture as a tool for resilience and social reconstruction in conflict-affected territories.
Institution // Associação Ponto Parágrafo is a non-profit organization focused on the intersection of architecture, education, and social agency. Based in Portugal, the NGO promotes the “building-site school” (estaleiro-escola) model, where students and communities collaborate on real-world interventions. The practice specializes in Design and Build methodologies, emphasizing sustainable construction techniques—such as earth and timber—and participatory design processes. By bridging the gap between academic research and local territory, Ponto Parágrafo seeks to empower communities through “constructive sovereignty” and non-speculative housing models.
During the Kosovo Architecture Festival 2026, Diogo will be co-tutoring a 5 day workshop with the Young Palestinian Architecture Fellows with a focus on Palestinian territory, as well as hold a keynote lecture.
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Diogo Matos Rodrigues është një arkitekt, dizajner dhe kërkues shkencor, puna e së cilit eksploron ndërthurjen e veprimit hapësinor, dizajnit pjesëmarrës dhe iniciativave bashkëpunuese „Dizajno dhe Ndërto“ (Design and Build). Ai është aktualisht kandidat për doktoratë në Fakultetin e Arkitekturës të Universitetit të Portos (FAUP) dhe bashkëpunëtor kërkimor i Fondacionit për Shkencën dhe Teknologjinë (FCT). Teza e tij, „Dizajno dhe Ndërto: Një qasje e integruar ndaj vetë-ndërtimit, bashkë-krijimit dhe teknologjisë për t’u përballur me krizën e strehimit“, hulumton se si demokratizimi i njohurive teknike mund të adresojë sfidat globale të strehimit.
Diogo mban një diplomë Master nga FAUP, ku teza e tij, „Të mësuarit në arkitekturë: Puna në kolektiv(e)“, analizoi ndikimin pedagogjik dhe social të kolektiveve të arkitekturës. Angazhimi i tij ndaj çështjeve sociale dhe ekologjike e udhëhoqi atë drejt Programit Ndërkombëtar të Lidershipit të Vizitorëve (IVLP) nga Departamenti i Shtetit i SHBA-së, i fokusuar në sfidat e ndryshimeve klimatike, për të cilin më vonë mori çmimin IVLP Impact Award në vitin 2023.
Ai është themeluesi dhe presidenti i Associação Ponto Parágrafo, një OJQ e dedikuar rëndësisë pedagogjike, ekologjike dhe politike të arkitekturës në raport me rininë dhe komunitetet. Përmes kësaj platforme, ai ka organizuar punëtori të shumta, duke filluar nga vetë-ndërtimi i pavijoneve modulare në Portugalinë rurale, e deri te eksperimentimi me dheun e ngjeshur (rammed earth) dhe qerpiçin në FAUP. Praktika e tij lidh urtësinë vernakulare me mjetet e reja digjitale, siç është fabrikimi digjital, për të krijuar zgjidhje ndërtimi të qëndrueshme dhe të qasshme.
Përveç punës së tij akademike dhe asaj në OJQ, Diogo ka një prapavijë të rëndësishme në aktivizëm Arkitektural dhe lidershipin editorial, pasi që ka shërbyer si drejtor i Revistës Dédalo. Për Festivalin e Arkitekturës në Kosovë, ai po koordinon një punëtori me arkitektë palestinezë, duke u fokusuar tek arkitektura si një mjet për qëndrueshmëri dhe rikonstruksion social në territoret e prekur nga konflikti.
Institucioni Associação Ponto Parágrafo është një organizatë jofitimprurëse e fokusuar në ndërthurjen e arkitekturës, edukimit dhe veprimit social. Me bazë në Portugali, OJQ-ja promovon modelin “building-site school” (estaleiro-escola), ku studentët dhe komunitetet bashkëpunojnë në ndërhyrje të botës reale. Praktika specializon në metodologjitë e dizajnit dhe ndertimit, duke theksuar teknikat e qëndrueshme të ndërtimit — si dheu dhe druri — dhe proceset e dizajnit pjesëmarrës. Duke krijuar një urë lidhëse midis kërkimit akademik dhe territorit lokal, Ponto Parágrafo synon të fuqizojë komunitetet përmes konceptit të „sovranitetit ndërtues“ dhe modeleve të banimit jo-spekulativ.
Gjatë Festivalit të Arkitekturës në Kosovë 2026 (KAF 2026), Diogo do të jetë bashkë-mentorë e një punëtorie 5-ditore të fokusuar në territoret palestineze, së bashku me Arkitektët e Rinj Palestinezë (Young Palestinian Architecture Fellows) me fokus në territorin palestinez, si dhe do të mbajë një ligjëratë kryesore (keynote lecture).
Walaa is a Syrian architect based in Stuttgart, Germany. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Damascus University and a Master’s degree in Environmental Design and Engineering from University College London (UCL), UK. She also completed a second research-based Master’s in Architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture (MSA), UK, where she examined the interrelationships between domestic architecture, inhabitants, and climate in Damascus.
Walaa currently works as a sustainability consultant at Transsolar Klimaengineering in Stuttgart, where she develops strategies for climate-neutral buildings across a range of scales and geographic contexts. In parallel, her independent research investigates urban sustainability under conditions of stress, focusing on the interplay between natural environments, urban infrastructures, and socio-spatial dynamics.
Her work explores the tensions between fragility and resilience, identifying patterns that inform context-sensitive and adaptive approaches to urban recovery. With a particular focus on Syria, Walaa engages critically with questions of reconstruction, working at the intersection of architecture, environment, and social behaviour. Her research examines how architecture and society respond to environmental urgency and fragile conditions while remaining grounded in local landscapes and lived realities.
Walaa’s practice operates at the intersection of environment and urban recovery. Based in Stuttgart, her work is shaped by a dual engagement: her professional involvement in climate-responsive and low-tech building strategies, and her research practice on post-war Syria. Her practice explores how environmental constraints, resource scarcity, and socio-spatial dynamics inform the production of architecture. Combining technical expertise in material flow, daylight, and passive architecture with an interest in lived realities and spatial practices, she investigates context-specific approaches to design and reconstruction. Through field research, writing and spatial storytelling, her work examines how local landscapes, infrastructures, and everyday practices can guide resilient architectural responses.
Walaa will be mentoring a 5 day workshop together with a Young Palestinian Architecture Fellow as well as hold a keynote.
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Walaa është një arkitekte siriane me bazë në Stuttgart, Gjermani. Ajo mban një diplomë Bachelor në Arkitekturë nga Universiteti i Damaskut dhe një diplomë Master në Projektim dhe Inxhinieri Mjedisore nga University College London (UCL), në Mbretërinë e Bashkuar. Gjithashtu, ajo ka përfunduar një master të dytë kërkimor në Arkitekturë në Manchester School of Architecture (MSA), ku ka studiuar marrëdhëniet ndërmjet arkitekturës së banimit, banorëve dhe klimës në Damask.
Aktualisht, Walaa punon si konsulente e qëndrueshmërisë në Transsolar Klimaengineering në Stuttgart, ku zhvillon strategji për ndërtesa klimatike neutrale në shkallë dhe kontekste të ndryshme gjeografike. Paralelisht, kërkimi i saj i pavarur fokusohet në qëndrueshmërinë urbane në kushte krize, duke analizuar ndërveprimin ndërmjet mjediseve natyrore, infrastrukturave urbane dhe dinamikave socio-hapësinore.
Puna e saj eksploron tensionet ndërmjet brishtësisë dhe qëndrueshmërisë (resilience) , duke identifikuar modele që informojnë qasje të përshtatshme dhe të ndjeshme ndaj kontekstit për rimëkëmbjen urbane. Me një fokus të veçantë në Sirinë, Walaa trajton në mënyrë kritike çështjet e rindërtimit, duke vepruar në ndërthurjen e arkitekturës, mjedisit dhe sjelljes shoqërore. Kërkimi i saj shqyrton mënyrën se si arkitektura dhe shoqëria reagojnë ndaj urgjencave mjedisore dhe kushteve të brishta, duke mbetur njëkohësisht të bazuara në peizazhet lokale dhe realitetet e përditshme.
Praktika e Walaa-s vepron në pikëtakimin mes mjedisit dhe rimëkëmbjes urbane. Me bazë në Stuttgart, puna e saj formësohet nga një angazhim i dyfishtë: përfshirja profesionale në strategjitë klimatike dhe ndërtimin me teknologji të ulët (low-tech), si dhe praktika kërkimore mbi Sirinë e pasluftës. Ajo eksploron mënyrën se si kufizimet mjedisore, mungesa e burimeve dhe dinamikat socio-hapësinore ndikojnë në prodhimin e arkitekturës. Duke kombinuar ekspertizën teknike në rrjedhën e materialeve, ndriçimin natyror dhe arkitekturën pasive me interesin për realitetet e jetuara dhe praktikat hapësinore, ajo hulumton qasje specifike ndaj kontekstit për projektimin dhe rindërtimin. Përmes kërkimeve në terren, shkrimit dhe rrëfimit hapësinor, puna e saj shqyrton se si peizazhet lokale, infrastrukturat dhe praktikat e përditshme mund të udhëheqin përgjigje arkitekturore reziliente.
Gjatë Festivalit të Arkitekturës së Kosovës 2026, Walaa do të mentorojë një punëtori 5-ditore së bashku me një Arkitekt të Ri Palestinezë (Young Palestinian Architecture Fellow), si dhe do të mbajë një ligjëratë kryesore (keynote lecture).
Alisa is a London-based artist from Ukraine. Her work explores constructed worlds, examining how reality is carefully assembled, controlled, and mediated. Working at the intersection of architecture and moving image, she recomposes fragments of these worlds into new juxtapositions that expose their underlying structures.
She has written and directed the short documentary film 2000 Tonnes of Aerated Concrete, exploring the life of William Little, the “Mole Man” of Hackney, and the short animated film The House That Slowly Collapses – a journey through layers of ruins in the past. The films were presented in exhibitions in London and Paris in 2025. She has also co-produced the short film A Dream of an Autodidact, examining the cinematic history of Vienna. Alongside her film work, she has contributed to exhibitions and research-based projects in architectural and artistic contexts.
Alisa has been involved in teaching and curatorial initiatives at the Architectural Association in London. She co-taught in the Visiting School “Film and Narrative Forensics: Rebuilding Series” in 2024-25. She also co-curated the Publishing and Film Forums at the AA in 2025 – a series of talks, lectures, and screenings featuring prominent industry professionals. She has worked as an architectural studio tutor at House for Home, a project for Ukrainian refugees at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, supported by the Dutch Creative Industries Fund.
Her professional experience includes work with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam and Nikitenkoteam in Kharkiv. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she contributed as an architect to VSIMDIM, a project developing mobile housing units for temporarily displaced people.
She is a fellow of the LINA Architecture Platform, nominated by the Kosovo Architecture Foundation, with participation in 2026. Alisa studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and the Kharkiv School of Architecture, Ukraine.
Through film, the practice constructs subjective pasts, presents, and futures.
Rooted in architectural thinking, its interventions are system-based and site-specific. Film, photography, and photogrammetry are used to record fragments of reality that participate in the operation of a specific metaphysical system. These are translated through drawing and set-building, where juxtaposition reveals the system’s underlying structure. Iterative recomposition produces new arrangements that propose alternative modes of operation.
The recent project The House That Slowly Collapses, rethinks the idea of linier historical sequence. It is a proposal to go back into the past and visit the sites of our failures, recomposing a crystal: a speculative, spontaneously forming construct of the present.
Current work engages with dwelling as an act of mirroring the landscape, and as an essential condition for the human mind. By introducing an institution that imposes its own system of meaning onto the landscape, the work examines how controlled and constructed environments can empty human perception.
This approach is grounded in the earlier investigations of how space is perceived across multiple species. The explorations created worlds where the subjective spatial constructs of animals, plants, and humans merge into a composite whole that appears other than its parts, yet is composed of nothing beyond them.
Alisa will be co-mentoring a 5 day workshop together with a Young Palestinian Architecture Fellow as well as hold a keynote lecture.
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Alisa Kutsenko është një artiste ukrainase me bazë në Londër. Puna e saj eksploron botët e ndërtuara dhe mënyrën se si realiteti ndërtohet, kontrollohet dhe ndërmjetësohet me kujdes. Duke vepruar në ndërthurjen e arkitekturës dhe imazhit në lëvizje, ajo rikompozon fragmente të këtyre botëve në vendosje të reja që zbulojnë strukturat e tyre të fshehura.
Ajo ka shkruar dhe drejtuar filmin e shkurtër dokumentar “2000 Tonnes of Aerated Concrete”, i cili trajton jetën e William Little, i njohur si “Mole Man” i Hackney-t, si dhe filmin e shkurtër të animuar “The House That Slowly Collapses”, një udhëtim nëpër shtresat e rrënojave të së kaluarës. Këta filma u prezantuan në ekspozita në Londër dhe Paris gjatë vitit 2025. Gjithashtu, ajo ka bashkëprodhuar filmin e shkurtër “A Dream of an Autodidact”, i cili shqyrton historinë kinematografike të Vjenës. Krahas punës së saj në film, Alisa ka kontribuar në ekspozita dhe projekte kërkimore në kontekste arkitekturore dhe artistike.
Alisa është angazhuar në iniciativa mësimdhënëse dhe kuratoriale në Architectural Association (AA) në Londër. Ajo ka bashkëudhëhequr programin “Film and Narrative Forensics: Rebuilding Series” gjatë viteve 2024–2025. Gjithashtu, në vitin 2025, ajo bashkëkuratoi forumet e botimeve dhe filmit në AA, një seri bisedash, ligjëratash dhe shfaqjesh filmike me profesionistë të njohur të industrisë. Ajo ka punuar gjithashtu si mentore në studio arkitekturore në projektin “House for Home”, i dedikuar refugjatëve ukrainas në Het Nieuwe Instituut në Rotterdam, i mbështetur nga Fondi Holandez për Industritë Kreative.
Përvoja e saj profesionale përfshin punën me Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) në Rotterdam dhe Nikitenkoteam në Kharkiv. Pas pushtimit rus të Ukrainës, ajo kontribuoi si arkitekte në projektin VSIMDIM, i cili zhvillonte njësi të lëvizshme banimi për personat e zhvendosur përkohësisht.
Alisa është pjesë e Platformës së Arkitekturës LINA, e nominuar nga Kosovo Architecture Foundation, me pjesëmarrje në vitin 2026. Ajo ka studiuar në Architectural Association School of Architecture në Londër dhe në Kharkiv School of Architecture në Ukrainë.
Përmes filmit, praktika e saj ndërton të shkuara, të tashme dhe të ardhme subjektive. E rrënjosur në mendimin arkitekturor, ndërhyrjet e saj janë të bazuara në sisteme dhe të lidhura ngushtë me vendin ku zhvillohen. Filmi, fotografia dhe fotogrametria përdoren për të regjistruar fragmente të realitetit që marrin pjesë në funksionimin e një sistemi specifik metafizik. Këto më pas përkthehen përmes vizatimit dhe ndërtimit të skenografive, ku vendosja e elementeve në kontrast zbulon strukturën e brendshme të sistemit. Përmes rikompozimeve të vazhdueshme krijohen konfigurime të reja që propozojnë mënyra alternative të funksionimit.
Projekti i saj i fundit, “The House That Slowly Collapses”, rishqyrton idenë e një rrjedhe lineare të historisë. Ai propozon një rikthim në të kaluarën për të vizituar vendet e dështimeve tona, duke rikompozuar një “kristal” – një konstrukt spekulativ i së tashmes që formohet spontanisht.
Puna e saj aktuale merret me konceptin e banimit si një akt pasqyrimi të peizazhit dhe si një kusht themelor për mendjen njerëzore. Duke futur një institucion që imponon sistemin e vet të kuptimeve mbi peizazhin, ajo shqyrton se si mjediset e kontrolluara dhe të ndërtuara mund të zbrazin perceptimin njerëzor.
Kjo qasje mbështetet në hulumtimet e saj të mëhershme mbi mënyrën se si hapësira perceptohet nga specie të ndryshme. Këto eksplorime kanë krijuar botë ku konstruktet subjektive hapësinore të kafshëve, bimëve dhe njerëzve bashkohen në një tërësi të përbërë, e cila duket ndryshe nga pjesët e saj, por që nuk përmban asgjë përtej tyre.
Gjatë Festivalit të Arkitekturës së Kosovës 2026, Alisa do të jetë bashkë-mentore e një punëtorie 5-ditore së bashku me një Arkitekt të Ri Palestinezë( Young Palestinian Architecture Fellow), si dhe do të mbajë një ligjëratë kryesore (keynote lecture).