Ursula Hartig

CoCoon-Studio
Eichenstrasse 4
12435 Berlin
Germany
Aims and expectations
Convinced about the great value of the academic DesignBuild methodology I am running DesignBuild studios since almost 20 years, mainly with clients in countries of the global south. The great value of this projects can be seen, asking the students about their experience and professional develpment, visiting the former clients and observing the incremental of excellent multidisciplinary and intercultural DesignBuild projects, forming a global trend in Higher Education.In cooperation with an international consortium, I am developing this dbXchange data-platform, as a long needed tool for knowledge exchange and collaboration.
Short CV
Ursula Hartig is a licensed architect since 1994 and graduated in Architecture at the
Technische Universität Berlin, holding the title Diplom Ingenieur.
From 2021 til now she supports the DesignBuild and the Design for the common Good Networks, teached at the University of Oregon in Autumn 2024 and CPID at PSU in Spring 2022, and is chair of a community building project in Potsdam, Germany.
In March 2017 she was appointed to the chair Designing and Building in a Global Context at the University of Applied Sciences Munich, Germany. She run that position until September 2020.
From 2013 to 2016 Hartig directed the research project 'EDBKN – European DesignBuild Knowledge Network' funded by the EU at the TU Berlin in cooperation with the Habitat Unit. Hartig is co-founder of the international dbXchange network that developed the web-platform dbXchange.eu supporting collaboration and exchange, fostering the visibility of the DesignBuild approaches and enhancing related research and teaching.
Since 2017, the dbXchange network is collaborating with three other Networks, the US-based network for Social Environmental Economic Design (SEED), the UK based academic ’Live Projects Network’ and the Asian Pacific ‘Pacific Rim Community Design Network’ (PacRim).
Hartig has been working as a Senior Researcher at the Department of Architecture, TU Berlin, since 2004. In 2005, based on her expertise in DesignBuild-Projects in the previous years, she founded CoCoon, an academic sector for teaching, research and practice in an intercultural and interdisciplinary context that focuses on contextual, sustainable and socially relevant architecture. CoCoon gained the UNESCO project-award of the UNDecade 'Education for Sustainable Development'.
Since 2000 Hartig has been project manager of TU Berlin's DesignBuild-Studios
'Praktikumsseminar Mexiko', and in 2003-2004 she managed a DesignBuild-Studio in Afghanistan. Since 1997 Hartig has been working as teacher and research fellow in graduate and undergraduate programmes at the Department of Architecture, at TU Berlin.
Since 1987 she has worked as Architect and collaborated as project manager in distinct Architecture offices.
Her research and teaching focus lies on the three-poled methodology of the DesignBuild-Studio, combining teaching with practise and research. Her special emphasis lies on architecture of social relevance, acceptance and appropriateness in an interdisciplinary and intercultural context.