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Claudia Westermann

Claudia Westermann

Suzhou, CN

 

About 

Claudia Westermann is an artist and architect, licensed with the German Chamber of Architects, and Senior Associate Professor in Architecture at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) in Suzhou, China.

She holds postgraduate degrees in Architecture and Media Art from the University of Karlsruhe (KIT) and the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG) at the Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (ZKM) in Germany, obtaining a Ph.D. from the Centre for Advanced Inquiry in Integrative Arts (CAiiA), Planetary Collegium, UK, for her research on a poetics of architecture entitled "An Experimental Research into Inhabitable Theories."

Her works have been widely exhibited and presented at conferences and exhibitions, including at the Venice Biennale (Architecture), the Moscow International Film Festival, ISEA Symposium for the Electronic Arts in Japan, and the ZKM (Center for Art and Media) in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Employment 

XLarch / Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, CN, Senior Associate Professor (Associate Professor until 2016)

Aug 2012 - current
 

Laboratory for Inhabitable Theories and Research in Architecture : LITRA, Leimen, DE , Architect (founder, CEO)

Work has included research, works of art, installations, performances, architectural and graphic design projects, most of which were exhibited widely.

Licensed with the German Chamber of Architects, section Baden-Wuerttemberg.
http://www.litra-design.com

Jan 2001 - current
 

Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, AT, Senior Lecturer in Architecture (Univ.Ass. postdoc)

Nov 2006 - Dec 2010
 

Education 

Center for Advanced Inquiry in the Integrative Arts (CAiiA), Plymouth University, Plymouth, UK, PhD, Art, Science, Technology

thesis title: An Experimental Research into Inhabitable Theories

Jun 2003 - Oct 2011
 

Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG) at the ZKM, Karlsruhe, DE, Media Art (Fine Art)

Oct 1999 - May 2003
 

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) formerly University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, DE, Architecture (Dipl. Ing. Arch.)

Oct 1991 - Jan 1999
 

Awards 

Jiangsu Province Department of Education Final Year Project Awards (tutor award), 2nd Place

RIBA Part 1 Final Year Project of Li Shaokang, co-tutored with A. Raonic in 2016-17, awarded with a second prize in the Department of Education Final Year Project Awards of Jiangsu Province, China.

2018
 

Outstanding Design Studio Coursework, Li Shaokang (tutor award), Award

Outstanding Design Studio Coursework award for Li Shaokang's FYP 'A Palimpsest of Old Shanghai', tutor award, co-tutored with Aleksandra Raonic, 2017 National Architectural Education Annual Symposium in Shenzhen, China.

2017
 

Outstanding Design Studio Coursework, Shao Fuwei (tutor award), Award

Outstanding Design Studio Coursework award for Shao Fuwei's FYP 'Shifting Perspectives in the Urban Theatre', tutor award, co-tutored with Aleksandra Raonic, 2017 National Architectural Education Annual Symposium in Shenzhen, China.

2017
 

Outstanding Design Brief, 1st Place

Outstanding Design Brief award for Final Year Project studio brief: Framing Indeterminacy, co-authored with Aleksandra Raonic, 2017 National Architectural Education Annual Symposium in Shenzhen, China.

2017
 

Jiangsu Province Department of Education Final Year Project Awards (tutor award), 3rd Place

Final Year Project of Wang Siyao, tutored in 2014-15, awarded with a third prize in the FYP competition in Jiangsu Province by the Department of Education, Jiangsu Province, PR China.

2016
 

Teaching award of Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University / Most Innovative Teaching Practice, 1st Place

Winner of the 2014 university award for excellence in teaching in the category "Innovative Teaching Practice". Nominated by year 4 (level 3) Architecture students in both categories available to academics: Best Teacher, and Most Innovative Teaching Practice.

The award was given for the design and teaching of the ARC308 Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics module - a new module in the curriculum of the Architecture Bachelor. Taking advantage of the multi-cultural context of the Department of Architecture at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, the Philosophy of Art module fosters critical awareness and engages students in enquiries of their position in architecture and its philosophical basis in China and beyond. The module is based on an understanding of Architecture as a practice that is essentially engaged with the creation of world views, whose modi operandi may be better understood if discussed in relation to other – possibly more radical – practices of enquiry and world view creation, such as Art and Philosophy.

2014
 

Areas of Specialization