Philipp Oswalt, Sybil Kohl, Albrecht Schäfer

Philipp Oswalt studied architecture at the Technische Universität in Berlin, as well as at that city’s University of Fine Arts. From 1988 to 1994 he was chief editor of the architectural magazine ARCH+. In 1998, he set up shop as a freelance architect in Berlin. That same year, he won the international competition for the memorial at the Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp in collaboration with Stefan Tischer and Stefanie Brauer. He has also contributed to many exhibitions including the Berlin Biennal in 1998; Children of Berlin at PS1 in New York in 1999; and to 3 Städte, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf in 2003. Philipp Oswalt is the author of Berlin - Stadt ohne Form, in 2000, and has published many articles in the international architectural press. He teached at the Technische Universität in Cottbus; Technische Universität and University of Fine Arts in Berlin. In April 2001, Philipp Oswalt together with Klaus Overmeyer initiated and coordinated the European research project Urban Catalysts. Funded by the European Commission, Urban Catalysts is based on the notion of the permanence of the urban space, and is developing temporary land-use strategies for urban wasteland. Since 2002, Philipp Oswalt directes the Shrinking Cities International Research project and launched a competition in 2004 on the question of desertification in four urban areas: Manchester and Liverpool, Ivanovo in Russia, Detroit and its outskirts, the Halle- Leipzig region.