The Metropolis Podcast

Florian Hertweck (University of Luxembourg) in conversation with Karim Boussouf, Clara Cernou, Davide Colapinto

Florian Hertweck is Professor of Architecture and Director of the Master's programme Architecture, European Urbanisation, Globalisation at the University of Luxembourg. Prior to this position, he was full professor at École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Versailles and visiting professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg.After studying architecture at ENSA Paris-Malaquais and contemporary history of architecture, he received his doctorate in 2006 on the Berlin architectural controversy (Der Berliner Architekturstreit) at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Universität Paderborn.He has been working as an independent architect since 2005, from 2010 to 2015 in partnership with the French architect Pierre Alexandre Devernois, and since 2016 as part of Studio Hertweck in Luxembourg.His research and planning activities include design strategies for metropolitan regions, such as Berlin, Paris, Shanghai, Casablanca, Istanbul, the Greater Region and more recently Geneva, together with Milica Topalovic from ETH Zurich, in the context of the Consultation du Grand Genève.

Mohammed Zanna (Lagos) in conversation with Celia Calado Bonnin, Marine Fritsch, Ognjen Milićević

Mohammed Zanna is a community organizer, activist, and a leader of the Nigerian Slum / Informal Settlement Federation. He is the founding father of the Federation's Media 4 Change initiative before the coming of KYC.TV, a youth-led effort to support the Federation's goals through media advocacy. Mohammed also coordinates a grassroots network of homeless and urban poor persons living with disabilities (PLWDs) in Lagos, many who are of northern Nigerian descent, and face multiple forms of exclusion and marginalization. He is Kanuri by tribe, and originally from Borno State.

Jens von Bergmann (Vancouver) in conversation with Karim Boussouf, Matéo Bouton, Ulysse Duhayon, Suxian Li

Jens von Bergmann holds undergraduate degrees in Physics and Computer Sciences and a PhD in Mathematics. He taught for several years at the University of Calgary, University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University before founding MountainMath to work on his passion of data analysis and visualization.

Tomas Diez in conversation with Luiza Lima

Tomas Diez is a Venezuela born Urbanist specialised in digital fabrication and its implications in the future of cities and society. He is the founder of the Fab City Research Laboratory at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia where he also is a tutor in design for digital fabrication. Tomas is tutor in Design Products at the Royal College of Arts, where he co-leads the Exploring Emergent Futures platform.

Tamara Kalantajevska and Alexander Spitzer (Gehl) in conversation with Louise Ciceri et Ronan Le Cornec

Gehl is an urban research and design consulting firm based in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 2000 by Professor Jan Gehl and urban designer Helle Søholt as a continuation of Gehl's research within the area over the past four decades. The firm specialises in improving the quality of urban life by re-orienting city design towards pedestrians and cyclists.