contributors

Alexander Formozov is a Berlin-based author and coordinator of non-profit civic projects with/in Central and Eastern Europe. He holds degrees in European Ethnology, History, and Political Science from the Humboldt University Berlin (M.A.), Moscow Lomonosov University and maintains a research interest in anthropology, memory, urban, and activism studies. Alexander worked as project leader for several NGOs and Dekabristen which he co-founded in 2012. He has also worked at the International

Department of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Berlin. Alexander's main focus is on transdisciplinary projects and international exchange in the areas of urbanism, culture, non-formal education, and civil society in Eastern Europe. He is one of the editors of ‘Reclaim’, Recode, Reinvent. ‘Urban art and activism in Eastern Europe’; (2018). Recently Alexander published on Russian single-industry towns and activism on Russia’s periphery. He is project coordinator at DRA e.V. (Berlin) within ‘Transition Dialogue' dealing with Change in Democratic Ways’. 

Tinatin Gurgenidze lives and works in Berlin. She studied architecture and urban design in Tbilisi and Barcelona. Currently, she is working on her Ph.D. thesis concerning the (post-) Soviet mass housing settlement of Gldani, a suburb of Tbilisi. Tinatin’s work concentrates on a sociological approach towards architecture and urban space. In her work, she tries to understand what happened to Gldani in the transition period after Georgia regained its independence in 1991. In addition to authoring several publications and lectures, Tinatin is the co-founder and artistic director of the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial. Since August 2019 Tinatin works at the Dekabristen e.V. in Berlin and coordinates the project ACT UP “Activating Urban Periphery in eastern Europe”.

Irakli Kotchlashvili is studying a bachelor's program of architecture at Ilia State University, as well as working there as a researcher’s assistant, researching the urban development of Tbilisi. He works at the architectural office WUNDERWERK and is also a part of the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial team. During his study years, he has been taking part in a number of projects/workshops considering different contexts of the soviet past of Tbilisi, its post-Soviet present, and has been an active observer of ongoing processes in Tbilisi.

Kuba Snopek is an urban researcher, writer, and educator. He is the BA Program director at the Kharkiv School of Architecture and a former faculty member at the Strelka Institute in Moscow. He is the author of critically acclaimed books: Belyayevo Forever, about the preservation of intangible heritage and Day-VII Architecture, a comprehensive study of the Polish churches built during the Communist era. Kuba initiated and co-created Stage, an award-winning crowdfunded public space built in Dnipro, Ukraine. He was awarded the Fulbright scholarship to learn the essential real estate development skills at UC Berkeley, and apply them to develop cultural projects.

Romea Muryń is a polish architect and urban planner. After receiving her master’s degree from the West Pomeranian University of Technology and her bachelor’s degree from Copenhagen School of Design and Technology, she worked for 8 years as an architect in leading design practices —JDS, COBE, REX, BIG, and OMA. Romea completed the postgraduate programme “Hybrid Urbanism” at Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture, and Design and she was an adjunct Professor at INDA International Program in Design and Architecture, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. In addition to design and academic practice, Romea is co-founder of the studio 'Locument' where her work was representing Ukraine at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Currently, she is a Program Director of “Creating Homes for Tomorrow” and Editor-in-Chief at the CANactions Magazine.

Philipp Meuser, German architect, and publisher, born in 1969. Studied architecture in Berlin and Zurich, with a focus on architectural history and theory. Holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from Berlin Technical University. Honorary professorship in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Construction projects in Centra Asia and Africa. 

Jan Chudožilov is a Czech-Swiss photographer and lives in Basel Switzerland