Markus Miessen (*1978) is a registered architect, spatial designer, consultant and writer. Miessen studied at Glasgow School of Art (BArch), graduated from the Architectural Association in London with Honours (AADiplHons) and received a Master in Research degree from the London Consortium (MRes). He defended his PhD at the Centre for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths, London, in 2015.

Miessen is a Full Professor in Design at the Academy of Design (HDK), University of Gothenburg, Sweden. From 2011-16, he was Distinguished Professor in Practice at the University of Southern California, USC (Los Angeles). Since 2011, Miessen has been a guest professor at the post-graduate visual arts program work.master at HEAD (Geneva). From 2011-13, he held a Stiftungsprofessur for Architecture and Critical Spatial Practice at the Städelschule (Frankfurt), was visiting professor at the Hochschule für Gestaltung (Karlsruhe, 2009-11), visiting professor at the Berlage Institute (Rotterdam, 2009-10), and a Unit Master at the Architectural Association (London, 2004-08). He has been a Harvard GSD Fellow in 2010. In 2008, Miessen founded the Winter School Middle East (Dubai, now Kuwait, ongoing).

At Studio Miessen, he oversees all projects as principle architect and director.

As a writer, Miessen contributes, edits and advises globally, and has delivered articles in newspapers, magazines and books, ranging from academic to scientific to popular culture. He frequently writes for periodicals such as Artforum, Bidoun, Volume, Urban Flux (China), Frieze, 032c, SPEX, Yale Constructs, Domus, Log, Metropolis M, Die Zeit, or Arch+.

The initiator of the Participation tetralogy, Miessen’s work revolves around questions of critical spatial practice, institution building, and spatial politics. He is best known for his theory of tactical intervention coined ‘Crossbenching’. He is the author of “Crossbenching” (Sternberg Press & Merve, 2016), “The Nightmare of Participation – Crossbench Praxis as a Mode of Criticality” (Sternberg Press, 2010), which is now available in English, German, Turkish, Chinese, Polish, Italian and Spanish (French and Korean editions forthcoming). In various collaborations, Miessen has edited and published books such as “The Archive as a Productive Space of Conflict” (Sternberg Press, 2015), “Actors, Agents and Attendants – Caring Culture: Art, Architecture, and the Politics of Public Health” (Sternberg Press/ SKOR, 2011), “Waking Up From The Nightmare of Participation” (Expodium, 2011), “When Economies Become Form” (Berlage Institute, 2009), “Institution Building – Artists, Curators, Architects and the Struggle for Space” (Sternberg Press, 2009), “East Coast Europe” (Sternberg Press, 2008), “The Violence of Participation” (Sternberg, 2007), “With/Without –Spatial Products, Practices and Politics in the Middle East” (Bidoun, 2007), “Did Someone Say Participate? An Atlas of Spatial Practice” (MIT Press, 2006) and “Spaces of Uncertainty” (Müller+Busmann, 2002).

As an editor, Miessen has advised the boards of Volume (Amsterdam), Bidoun (New York), and Archive journal (Berlin/Turin). Together with Nikolaus Hirsch, Miessen is the editor of the “Critical Spatial Practice” book series at Sternberg Press, which has published authors and artists such as Beatriz Colomina, Keller Easterling, Chantal Mouffe, Eyal Weizman, Felicity Scott, Robert Jan van Pelt, Rabih Mroué, Armin Linke, and Trevor Paglen.

As a consultant, Miessen has worked with the Government of Slovenia during Slovenia’s presidency of the EU Council, advised The European Kunsthalle (Cologne), the Dutch Foundation for Art and Public Domain “SKOR” (Amsterdam), the Swiss think tank “WIRE” (Zurich), the Serpentine Gallery (London), the European Commission, and the Kosovo National Gallery. He has researched and proposed government policy for “General Public Agency” (London), and has written policy papers for the think tank for everyday democracy “Demos” (London). Miessen currently also acts as one of the curatorial “attachés” to the Sydney Biennale (2016). This advisory group directly contribute to the broad international conversation informing this exhibition and its public programs. He is a member of the European Cultural Parliament and has been on many academic search commissions including at the University of Luxemburg and the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm.

Apart from multiple international group exhibitions, Miessen’s work has been published and exhibited widely, including at the Venice, Manifesta, Istanbul, Lyon, Gwangju, and Shenzhen Biennials.

Miessen has lectured at institutions such as Columbia University (New York), The Vera List Centre for Art and Politics (New York), Cooper Union (New York), MIT (Cambridge), Harvard Graduate School of Design (Cambridge), The Graham Foundation (Chicago), Rice University (Houston), Artspeak (Vancouver), Tijuana Cultural Centre, CCA (Kitakyushu), Artsonje (Seoul), Kuwait Cultural Office, The Third Line (Dubai), Mardin Artuklu University, Palace of Culture and Science (Warsaw), iaspis (Stockholm), Democracy Club (London), NAi (Rotterdam), Jan van Eyck Akademie (Maastricht), Witte de With (Rotterdam), Bauhaus (Weimar), TU Berlin, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, HDK Gothenburg, Strelka (Moscow), Artissima and GAM (Torino) et al.

His work has received numerous awards including from the Flemish Government (Brussels), Stimuleringsfonds voor Architectuur (Amsterdam), Kulturstiftung des Bundes (Berlin), Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts (Chicago), the Henry Saxon Snell Prize, and was nominated for the RIBA Silver Medal.

In 2008, the British newspaper The Independent listed his book “Did Someone Say Participate” as one of the ten best architecture and design books of all time. In 2015, the Spanish edition of The Nightmare of Participation (published by dpr editorial) was a finalist at the prestigious FAD Pensamiento y Crítica awards.

Teaching Positions

  • Nov 2016–ongoing
    Academy of Arts & Design (HDK)
    Gothenburg, SE

    Full Professor in Design

  • Aug 2011–2016
    University of Southern California (USC)
    Los Angeles, US

    Distinguished Professor of Practice

  • Sep 2015–Jul 2016
    MaHKU Utrecht
    Utrecht, NL

    Guest Professor for Research in Visual Art & Design

  • Sep 2011–Feb 2015
    Haute école d’art et de design (HEAD)
    Geneva, CH

    Guest Professor for Research Design

  • Sep 2011–Jul 2013
    Städelschule
    Frankfurt/ Main, DE

    Stiftungsprofessur for Critical Spatial Practice

  • Sep 2011–Jun 2011
    Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD)
    Cambridge (MA), US

    Research Fellow

  • Sep 2009–Jul 2011
    University of Arts and Design
    Karlsruhe, DE

    Hochschule für Gestaltung
    Guest Professor for Temporary Architecture & Curating Content

  • Oct 2009–Jul 2010
    Berlage Institute, Center for Advanced Studies
    Rotterdam, NL

    Visiting Professor for Urban Studies and Spatial Design

  • Aug 2008 (ongoing)
    Winter School Middle East
    Kuwait

    Director

  • Sep 2004–Jul 2008
    Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA)
    London, UK

    Unit Master

Selected Projects (as Principle Architect)

  • 2018 Revamping Gropius Bau, Berlin, DE, (Consulting, Spatial Design)
  • 2018 PAM Pavilion, Munich, DE, (Spatial Design)
  • 2017 Barbara Kruger Untitled (The Drop) Performa 17 Biennial, New York, US, (Spatial Design)
  • 2017 Performa 17 Biennial Hub, New York, US, (Spatial Design)
  • 2017 Kunsthalle Vienna How to Live Together, Vienna, AT, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2017 documenta 14 – Stefanos Tsivopoulos The Precarious Archive, Kassel, DE, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2017 Nová Synagóga, Žilina, SK, (Consulting, Spatial Design)
  • 2017 Xeno-architecture at KAAI, Perhaps it is high time for a xeno-architecture to match, Brussels, BE, (Spatial Design)
  • 2017 documenta 14 – Parallel Program, State of Concept: 'Heiter bis Wolkig' at Future Climates, Athens, GR,
  • 2016 Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, ReVision, Hamburg, DE, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2016 Omer Fast, Talking is not always the solution, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, DE,
  • 2016 Blumenthal House, Berlin, DE, (Spatial Design)
  • 2016 Berlin Biennale Discreet, Berlin, DE, (Spatial Design)
  • 2016 Slater Bradley Studio, Berlin, DE, (Spatial Design)
  • 2016 Stefanos Tsivopoulos The Precarious Archive, Vitoria-Gasteiz, ES, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2016 Conditions of Political Choreography, CCA Tel Aviv, IL / nbk Berlin, DE, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2016 The day will come when photography revises, Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Linz, AT, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2016 Kunstverein in Hamburg, New Foyer, New Foyer, Hamburg, DE, (Spatial Design)
  • 2016 Horizontal Assemblies. Europe as a perpetually unfinished project of Dissensual Interregionalism, A contribution to the book Warum Europa Eine Republik Werden Muss! Eine politische Utopie by Ulrike Guérot, A contribution to the book Warum Europa Eine Republik Werden Muss! Eine politische Utopie by Ulrike Guérot, (Spatial Design, Consulting, Research, Infrastructure)
  • 2015 The day will come when photography revises, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg, DE, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2015 When we share more than ever, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, DE, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2015 Hito Steyerl, Artists Space, New York, US, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2014 Institute of Moden Art, Brisbane, AU, (Spatial Design)
  • 2014 A Paradise Built in Hell, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg, DE, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2014 Dundee Symposium, Dundee, UK, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2014 Hito Steyerl, IMA, Brisbane, AU, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2014 Hito Steyerl, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, US, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2014 Hito Steyerl, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, NL, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2014 Artsonje Center, Seoul, KR, (Spatial Design)
  • 2014 Galeria e Arteve e Kosovës / The Kosova Art Gallery, Prishtina, Kosovo, (Consultancy)
  • 2014 b-05, Montabaur, DE, (Spatial Design / Infrastructure)
  • 2014 Revamping Witte de With, Witte de With, Rotterdam, NL, (Spatial Design)
  • 2014 Ware und Wissen, Weltkulturen Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt, DE, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2013 Performa 13 Hub, New York, US, (Spatial Design)
  • 2013 Bergen Assembly, Bergen, NO, (Exhibition Design and Spatial Framework)
  • 2013 Hito Steyerl, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, US, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2013 The World Turned Inside Out, Witte de With, Rotterdam, NL, (Spatial Framework)
  • 2013 Evident in Advance, 55th Venice Art Biennale, Venice, IT, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2012 School as School, Witte de With, Rotterdam, NL, (Spatial Design)
  • 2012 Hito Steyerl, Design for Solo Exhibitions in eflux (New York), Overgaden (Copenhagen), Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago), and Wilfred Lentz (Rotterdam), (Exhibition Design)
  • 2012 Archive Kabinett: Sunday Book Fair, Temporary pop up store, Temporary pop up store, Berlin, DE,
  • 2012 19 Hours at the Kiosk, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, DE, (Curatorial & Spatial Design)
  • 2012 Consensus Bar, Witte de With, Rotterdam, NL, (Spatial Design)
  • 2012 Dissenting Histories, 25 years at the Power Plant, Toronto, CA, (Spatial Design)
  • 2012 LU Arts Centre & Radar Hub, Loughborough, UK, (Consultancy)
  • 2011 SKOR Actors, Agents and Attendants 2, Amsterdam, NL, (Conference)
  • 2011 Archive Kabinett, Berlin, DE, (Spatial Design)
  • 2011 Duas Barras, Coruripe, BR, (Spatial Framework and Educational Program)
  • 2011 Gwangju Hub for the Gwangju Biennial, Gwangju, KO, (Spatial Design and Exhibition)
  • 2011 Hans Ulrich Obrist Archive, Berlin, Karlsruhe, Tschlin and Faernigen, (Consultancy and Educational Program)
  • 2011 Performa 11 Hub, New York, US, (Spatial Design)
  • 2011 Space Station – 0047, Oslo, NO, (Spatial Design)
  • 2011 Kunstraum Lüneberg, Lüneberg, DE, (Spatial Design and Framework)
  • 2011 Temporary Kunsthalle, Berlin, DE, (Spatial Design and Consultancy)
  • 2011 Archive as Productive Space of Conflict, Karlsruhe, DE and Geneva, CH, (Consultancy)
  • 2011 Scaffolding of Contrition, (Consultancy and Research)
  • 2011 Testify!, The Consequences of Architecture, The Consequences of Architecture, (Consultancy)
  • 2010 Dewaniya: Architectural Space of Political Exchange, with Joseph Grima, with Joseph Grima, Kuwait and Boston, (Research)
  • 2010 Art Forum Berlin / Focus, Berlin, DE, (Spatial Consultancy)
  • 2010 SKOR Actors, Agents, and Attendants, Amsterdam, NL, (Conference)
  • 2010 CentQuatre, Paris, FR, (Spatial Design)
  • 2010 MoCHA Archive, Murcia, ES, (Spatial Design)
  • 2010 Antigua Oficina De Correos Y Telègrafos, Murcia, ES, (Spatial Design)
  • 2010 Hub 2.0 MAC, Santiago, CL, (Spatial Design)
  • 2010 Backbench, Murcia, ES, (Spatial Design)
  • 2010 Institut für Raumexperimente, Berlin, DE, (Lecture)
  • 2010 International Chilliwack Biennial, Chilliwack, CA, (Spatial Design)
  • 2010 Art Basel Statements,
  • 2009 Performa 09 Hub, New York, US, (Spatial Design)
  • 2009 Closed Waters, Berlin, DE, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2009 Arnolfini, Bristol, UK, (Exhibition Design)
  • 2009 Dubai Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, DE, (Consultancy)
  • 2008 East Coast Europe, New York, US, (Curatorial)
  • 2008 The Great Pyramid, with Nikolaus Hirsch and Ingo Niermann, with Nikolaus Hirsch and Ingo Niermann, Germany,
  • 2008 Credit Suisse, Dubai, New York, Berlin, Moscow, Geneva, Milan, Madrid, and London, (Traveling Exhibition Design)
  • 2007 European Kunsthalle, Köln, DE, (Consultancy and Spatial Framework)
  • 2007 Host Not Found: A Traveling Monument to the Suppression of Search, with Patricia Reed, with Patricia Reed, Geneva, CH, (Spatial Framework)
  • 2007 Lyon Biennale, Lyon, FR, (Research)
  • 2006 43b bar at Max Wigram Gallery, London, UK, (Spatial Design)
  • 2006 The Momental, Sparwasser, Berlin, DE, (Consultancy)
  • 2006 Pyongyang: rules of engagement, Pyongyang, North Korea, (Consultancy)
  • 2006 Walsall Council: An Urban Line, Walsall, UK, (Consultancy)
  • 2006 Substitune, London, UK, (Consultancy)

Education

  • 2005–2015 Centre for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths, London, UK, (PhD), supervised by Eyal Weizman and Keller Easterling
  • 2004–2005 London Consortium, London, UK, (MRes)
  • 2002–2004 Architectural Association, London, UK, (AADiplHons, with honours)
  • 1998–2001 Glasgow School of Art, (Barch)

Publications / Books

  • The Archive as a Productive Space of Conflict Edited by Markus Miessen, Yann Chateigné, Sternberg Press, 2015
  • Mould (issue 1) Curated by Studio Miessen, Mould Press, 2014
  • La Pesadilla de la Participación By Markus Miessen, dpr-barcelona, 2014
  • L’incubo della partecipazione By Markus Miessen, Archive Books, 2014
  • Koszmar partycypacji By Markus Miessen, Fundacja Bęc Zmiana, 2014
  • Katılım Kâbusu By Markus Miessen, Metis Kitap, 2013
  •  参与的恶梦 By Markus Miessen, 翁子健 金城出版社, 2013
  • Albtraum Partizipation By Markus Miessen, Merve Verlag, 2012
  • Eine Zukunft nach der Zukunft Edited by Markus Miessen and Felix Vogel, GfZK, 2012
  • Actors, Agents and Attendants, Caring Culture: Art, Architecture and the Politics of Health Edited by Andrea Phillips & Markus Miessen, Sternberg Press, 2011
  • Architectural Space as Agent Conversation with Markus Miessen, Patricia Reed, Kenny Cupers, Fillip, 2011
  • Waking Up From The Nightmare Of Participation Edited by Nina Valerie Kolowratnik & Markus Miessen, Expodium, 2011
  • The Nightmare of Participation (Crossbench Praxis as a Mode of Criticality) By Markus Miessen, Sternberg Press, 2010
  • When Economies Become Form. Micro-Economic Models as Spatial Prescriptions in Northeast Brazil Edited by Tina DiCarlo & Markus Miessen, Berlage Institute, 2009
  • ¿Alguien Dijo Participar? Edited by Markus Miessen, Shumon Basar, dpr-barcelona, 2009
  • Institution Building – Artists, Curators, Architects, and the Struggle for Space Edited by Nikolaus Hirsch, Philipp Misselwitz, Markus Miessen, Matthias Görlich, Sternberg Press, 2009
  • East Coast Europe Edited by Markus Miessen, Sternberg Press, 2008
  • The Violence of Participation Edited by Markus Miessen, Sternberg Press, 2007
  • With/Without: Spatial Products, Practices and Politics in the Middle East Edited by Shumon Basar, Antonia Carver, and Markus Miessen, Bidoun, 2007
  • Did someone say Participate? An Atlas of Spatial Practice Edited by Markus Miessen & Shumon Basar, MIT Press, 2006
  • Substitune – A Manual By Markus Miessen, AA Publications, 2005
  • Spaces of Uncertainty By Kenny Cupers & Markus Miessen, Müller+Busmann, 2002

Lecturing

  • Jun 2016
    Kunsthalle Wien
    Vienna, AT

    L'exposition Imaginaire

  • Mar 2016
    Mextrópoli
    Mexico City
  • Mar 2016
    UNAM
    Mexico City
  • Nov 2015
    MaHKU Utrecht
    Utrecht, NL
  • Nov 2015
    Sydney Biennial
    Sydney, AU
  • Oct 2015
    Goldsmiths
    London
  • Sep 2015
    Gothenburg Art School
    Gothenburg

    Making/Narratives

  • Jun 2015
    University of Southern California
    Los Angeles
  • Apr 2015
    Innsbruck University
    Innsbruck
  • Mar 2015
    Samuso
    Seoul
  • Feb 2015
    University of Southern California
    Los Angeles
  • Jun 2014
    IMA
    Brisbane
  • Jun 2014
    HEAD
    Geneva
  • 2014
    EACC
    Castellon

    Espacios de Anticipación

  • Apr 2014
    Glasgow School of Art
    Glasgow

    It's Not Very Nice That

  • Apr 2014
    Mardin Artuklu
    Mardin
  • Mar 2014
    iaspis
    Stockholm
  • Nov 2013
    Künstlerhaus
    Stuttgart
  • Oct 2013
    HEAD
    Geneva
  • Jul 2013
    Weltkulturen Museum
    Frankfurt

    Think-Tank III: „Speaking on behalf of others”

  • Apr 2013
    Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee
    Berlin
  • Mar 2013
    Städelschule
    Frankfurt

    Role (Models)

  • Apr 2013
    Artsonje
    Seoul
  • Oct 2012
    Vienna Art Week
    Vienna

    Predicting Memories

  • Oct 2012
    Witte de With
    Rotterdam

    Welcome to Harmonistan!

  • Sep 2012
    ETH
    Zurich
  • Jul 2012
    Goethe Institut
    Madrid

    Participar.de

  • May 2012
    Bucharest Biennial
    Bucharest
  • May 2012
    Linz University
    Linz

    Cultures of Assembly

  • May 2012
    Städelschule
    Frankfurt

    Cultures of Assembly

  • Apr 2012
    Weimar Bauhaus
    Weimar

    Horizonte. Angst

  • Apr 2012
    Kuwait Cultural Council
    Kuwait
  • Mar 2012
    HEAD
    Geneva
  • Mar 2012
    Columbia University
    New York
  • Feb 2012
    Artsonje

    Roundtable—9th Gwangju Biennale: Workstation 1

  • Oct 2011
    Rice

    Fall Lecture Series. Judgement

  • Oct 2011
    Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw
    Warsaw

    Under Construction festival

  • Sep 2011
    GfZK
    Leipzig

    Szenarien über Europa

  • Sep 2011
    Louisiana
    Oslo

    The Louisiana Response: New Sensitivity in Contemporary Architecture

  • Aug 2011
    University of Southern California
    Los Angeles

    Keynote lecture in the context of a week-long workshop (see workshops)

  • Jun 2011
    Pavilion
    Bucharest

    On modes of Critical Spatial Practice

  • Jun 2011
    iaspis
    Stockholm

    On The Violence of Participation

  • Jun 2011
    Edinburgh International Film Festival
    Edinburgh

    On the politics of space

  • May 2011
    Umea School of Architecture
    Umea

    On The Nightmare of Participation

  • May 2011
    Kunstraum Lüneburg
    Lüneburg

    Opening of the nOffice-designed space;
    In conversation with Julia Moritz, Andrea Phillips and Magnus Nilsson

  • May 2011
    Art Brussels
    Brussels

    Architist:
a ‘domus’ roundtable discussion
    With Alexandra Midal, Joseph Grima, Jan de Cock and Angelique Campens

  • Apr 2011
    Künstlerhaus Stuttgart
    Stuttgart

    On institutional critique through spatial practice

  • Apr 2011
    Laznia
    Gdansk

    On institutional critique through spatial practice

  • Mar 2011
    Kölnischer Kunstverein
    Cologne

    The Archive as a Productive Space of Conflict
    Lecture and discussion with Rabih Mroué

  • Mar 2011
    Architectural Association
    London

    The Archive as a Productive Space of Conflict
    Panel discussion with Hans Ulrich Obrist, Armin Linke and Samantha Hardingham

  • Feb 2011
    Haute Ecole d’Art et de Design, HEAD
    Geneva

    On archival practice and its spatial repercussions

  • Jan 2011
    Winter School Middle East
    Kuwait

    On The Violence of Participation
    Hosted by Kuwait Cultural Council; see also: www.winterschoolmiddleeast.org

  • Dec 2010
    GAM
    Turin

    On The Violence of Participation

  • Dec 2010
    Manggha Centre of Japanese Art and Technology
    Krakow

    On The Violence of Participation

  • Dec 2010
    Harvard Graduate School of Design
    Cambridge, MA

    On Diwaniyah: the space of consensus

  • Nov 2010
    Städelschule
    Frankfurt

    On The Violence of Participation

  • Oct 2010
    Expodium
    Utrecht

    On The Violence of Participation

  • Oct 2010
    Goldsmiths College, University of London
    London

    On The Violence of Participation

  • Sep 2010
    OK Do
    Helsinki

    On The Violence of Participation

  • Jul 2010
    Goethe Institute HQ
    Munich

    On territorial perception of Europe

  • Jun 2010
    Studio Olafur Eliasson
    Berlin

    On the production of dissensual space

  • May 2010
    Kuwait Cultural Council
    Kuwait

    On the Winter School Middle East

  • May 2010
    SKOR
    Amsterdam

    On The Violence of Participation

  • Mar 2010
    Stroom
    The Hague

    On The Violence of Participation

  • Feb 2010
    Field Operations
    New York

    On masterplanning Content

  • Feb 2010
    Serpentine Gallery
    London

    On Crossbench Praxis

  • Nov 2009
    Graham Foundation
    Chicago

    The Nightmare of Participation
    Graham Foundation website

  • Oct 2009
    SKOR Loko at The Kunstlinie Theatre
    Almere

    Keynote lecture on critical participation beyond romanticism

  • Jun 2009
    ProQM
    Berlin

    Institution Building. Artists, Curators, Architects, and the Struggle for Space Nikolaus Hirsch, Philipp Misselwitz, Markus Miessen, Matthias Görlich (ed.)
    Book launch with the editors and Nina Möntmann

  • Jun 2009
    NAi – Netherland Architecture Institute
    Rotterdam

    The Architecture of Knowledge On Archives and Libraries
    Visit Event Website: http://www.thearchitectureofknowledge.nl/

  • Jun 2009
    Designmai Berlin, International Design Festival
    Berlin

    Civic City (ZHdK) presentation and panel
    With Jesko Fezer and Matthias Görlich

  • Apr 2009
    University of Innsbruck
    Innsbruck

    Alpine Centre for Critical Spatial Practice
    Audition/lecture for Professorship

  • Mar 2009
    BAF Art School
    Dubai

    Friendship of the Peoples: Contemporary Collaborations
    With Zak Kyes, Ralf Pflugfelder, Eva Munz, Ayzit Bostan, Markus Miessen, Shumon Basar and Ingo Niermann

  • Mar 2009
    Artspeak
    Vancouver, BC

    FILLIP: Judgment and Contemporary Art Criticism – Sessions
    The Nightmare of Participation, with Amy Zion and Kristina Lee Podesva

  • Jan 2009
    PROGRAM Initiative for Art + Architecture collaborations
    Berlin

    A Multidisciplinary Team Talk
    With Antonia Hirsch, Julian Kücklich, Anastasia Lavrova, Kirsten Maar and Markus Miessen

  • May 2008
    Berlage Institute
    Rotterdam

    Violating Consensus

  • Nov 2007
    MIT
    Cambridge, MA

    Frameworks: Modes of Interference On alternative institutional/spatial models
    Lecture and discussion with Ute Meta Bauer
    Download Event Poster as PDF (108kb)

  • Nov 2007
    The Political Equator II
    Tijuana

    Centro Cultural Tijuana
    On the Lyon project
    Download Event Poster as PDF (164kb)

  • May 2007
    International Design Forum
    Dubai

    Regarding the launch of Al Manakh and With/Without
    With Rem Koolhaas, Antonia Carver, and Shumon Basar

  • May 2007
    inSITE, The Situational Drive (Complexities of Public Sphere Engagement)
    New York

    Cooper Union
    Round-table panel discussion with Anton Vidokle, Mans Wrange, and Doug Ashford Cooper Union, in cooperation with creativetime and inSITE
    Download Poster (628 kb)

  • Mar 2007
    Columbia University
    New York

    Lecture on Spatial Practice and Participation beyond Models of Consensus

  • Mar 2007
    Royal College of Art
    London

    Conflict as Practice: Spatial Practices beyond Models of Consensus

  • Feb 2007
    Architecture as Initiative Symposium, AA
    London

    Trigger Talk

  • Dec 2006
    Stuttgart University, IGMA
    Stuttgart

    The Violence of Participation
    Download Event Poster (2.4 Mb)

  • Nov 2006
    Architectural Association
    London

    Lecturer and round-table host
    ‘Did we mean participate or did we mean something else?’
    (with S. Basar, J. Grima, C. Condorelli, and B. Gibson)

  • Sep 2006
    Columbia University (New York)
  • Sep 2006
    Van Alen Institute/ Storefront Gallery
    New York

    Round-table discussion ‘Did Someone Say Participate?’
    (with S. Basar, L. Kurgan, S.J. Weiss, L. Skrebowski, and A. Shamir)

  • Jul 2006
    24hr Interview Marathon at the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion
    London

    Interviewed by Rem Koolhaas and Hans Ulrich Obrist
    'Did Someone Say Participate?' An Atlas of Spatial Practice' launch
    (with S. Basar and Abake)

  • Mar 2006
    Museum fuer Angewandte Kunst
    Cologne

    Lecturer
    ‘Spaces of Production’ (with Hirsch, Misselwitz and Goerlich)

  • Oct 2005
    9th International Istanbul Biennale
    Istanbul

    Lecturer

  • Nov 2006
    Casco/ Camp for Oppositional Architecture
    Utrecht

    Lecturer ‘The Violence of Participation’

  • Jul 2004
    Architectural Association Summer Symposium (London)

Exhibitions

  • 2016
    Caulfield, Cauliflower, and other vegetables.
    Utrecht, NL

    (A Possible Dialectics On The Politics Of Misunderstanding)

    MaHKU graduation exhibition, curated by Markus Miessen.

    From 24 June to 3 July 2016, BAK's exhibition space is one of the venues for the MaHKU graduation show Caulfield, Cauliflower, and other vegetables (A Possible Dialectics On The Politics Of Misunderstanding).

    Other venues are the Academiegalerie, Minrebroederstraat 16, Utrecht, and the Universiteitsmuseum, Lange Nieuwstaat 106, Utrecht. The MaHKU is the MA trajectory in Fine Art at HKU University of the Arts, Utrecht, and a long time collaboration partner in Learning Place, BAK's platform for education and talent development.

    Contributions to this exhibition, curated by Markus Miessen, by: Marija Angelovska, Goeun Choi, Stavroulla Gregoriou, Ola Hassanain, Kathy Holowko, Willem Holtrop, Pooja Hukku, Kristina Országhová, KT Rangnick, Constanze Schreiber, Iliana Soriano, Felipe Zapata Zuluaga.

  • Sep 2015
    A Space is A Space is A Space

    Berlin, DAZ
    Curators: Karima Boudou, Céline Poulin, Agnès Violeau
    Spatial Concept: Jean-Pascal Flavien

    Artists: Kader Attia / Rosa Barba / Nina Beier & Marie Lund / Laetitia Bénat / Peggy Buth / Natalie Czech / Jason Dodge / Jimmie Durham / Jean-Pascal Flavien / Alicia Frankovich / Rainer Ganahl / Christian Jankowski / Thomas Locher / Markus Miessen / Joanne Pouzenc / Michael Riedel / Lyllie Rouvière / Dennis Rudolph / Vanessa Safavi / Eric Stephany / Rosemarie Trockel / Clémence de la Tour du Pin / Tris Vonna-Michell

  • Jun 2015
    Project Brennero

    Innsbruck University

  • Mar 2015
    Territories of Assembly

    Live in your Head, Geneva

    Research directed & curated by Markus Miessen

  • Oct 2014
    Territories of Assembly

    Artsonje, Seoul

    Research directed & curated by Markus Miessen

  • Jan 2015
    Correspondents at Kunstraum Innsbruck

    CORRESPONDENTS is a project by Stefano De Martino and Karen Lohrmann and lauched in 2009. Set up as a periodical, each issue is produced by one personality or group, on one subject.

    CORRESPONDENTS is deliberately not a magazine, or a collection of articles. It acts as a free agent, its content determined and uncompromising.
    There is no relation between the separate issue, other than the fact that they can all relate and invite some sense of exteriority.

    CORRESPONDENTS is a drop in the ocean of printed matter.

  • Jan 2014
    In-Between. Spatial Discourse in Visual Culture

    Part 1: "Incertitudes" by Andreas Gehrke & Markus Miessen

    The first part of the series "Incertitudes" is a collaboratively developed exhibition by Berlin-based photographer and publisher Andreas Gehrke with architect and writer Markus Miessen. It revisits various spaces and places within the city of Berlin and follows their evolution over the course of the last decade. "Incertitudes“ can be understood as both a retrospective view and a new perspective on the project "Spaces of Uncertainty" by Kenny Cupers and Markus Miessen (Berlin, 2002). It acts as a visual and narrative archive of urban uncertainties.

  • Sep 2013
    Planning for Protest

    Publication, exhibition and associated project of the 2013 Lisbon Architecture Triennale.

    Organized by Ben Allen, James Bae, Ricardo Gomes, Shannon Harvey and Adam Michaels.

    Participants include: Antonas Office (Athens), Studio Miessen (Berlin), studioBasar (Bucharest), Cluster (Cairo), Culturstruction (Dublin), Superpool (Istanbul), Ateliermob (Lisbon), public works with Isaac Marrero-Guillamón (London), Ecosistema Urbano (Madrid), Srdjan Jovanović Weiss / NAO (New York), PioveneFabi with 2A+P/A (Rome), Vapor 324 (São Paulo).

  • Feb 2013
    Stealth Architecture

    Weltkulturen Museum

  • Oct 2011
    Space Station – 0047 Oslo
    Oslo, Norway

    Space Station is a spatial and social framework that, continuously and accumulatively, negotiates the relationship between various modes of production, display and its spatial envelope. Consisting of a series of open residencies and public activities, ‘Space Station’ discusses and challenges models of presentation and mediation, whilst promoting the perception of architecture as an active device capable of probing and altering institutional settings and their political conditions.

  • June 2011
    Edinburgh International Film Festival

    24 hours of Spatial Politics (ongoing film-programme), curated by Markus Miessen, June 21-22

  • Apr 2011
    Superposition
    Frankfurt

    curated by Phillip Zach

  • Mar 2011
    Wish We Were Here – Cedric Price: Mental Notes
    London

    Touring exhibition curated by Samantha Hardingham and Hans Ulrich Obrist
    Local show in collaboration with Jan Nauta and Scrap Marshall (POA); cooperation with the Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe (HfG); Kilian Fabich and Stella-Sophie Seroglou, supervised by Wilfried Kühn, Armin Linke and Markus Miessen.
    http://szenografie.hfg-karlsruhe.de/huo/archive.html

  • May 2011
    Curated by_Vienna: East by South West
    Vienna

    Kerstin Engholm Galerie curated by Adam Budak
    EAST: EXCITABLE SPEECH: WEST, with Armen Eloyan,
 Mekhitar Garabedian,
 Agnieszka Kurant,
 Markus Miessen,
 Hans Schabus,
 Slavs and Tatars, Sergiej Paradjanov and Abbas Kiarostami

  • Oct 2010
    Overscore
    Murcia

    Overscore, curated by Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum Bassam El Baroni and Jeremy Beaudry
    Contribution: Backbench (at the Old Post Office) and display strategy and structure for the MoCHA Archive, both conceived and designed nOffice

  • Aug 2010
    Interview Archive Hans Ulrich Obrist

    Venice Biennale

  • May 2010
    Plus10
    London
  • May 2010
    1000, 3
    Berlin

    1000, 3; solo show Markus Miessen and Ralf  Pflugfelder with John McCusker (graphic design)

  • Apr 2010
    They go round and round
    Oslo, Norway

    They go round and round, curated by Carson Chan
    Kunsthalle Dubai Düsseldorf, with Ralf Pflugfelder

  • Feb 2010
    The Process Room at the Serpentine Gallery

    Skills Exchange: Urban Transformation and the Politics of Care.
    Serpentine Gallery

  • Nov 2009
    Performa Biennial, New York City
    New York

    The Recital: Performa Hub, Cooper Union, Union Square
    Designed and built by nOffice
    Curated by RoseLee Goldberg
    Performa Biennial

  • Sept 2009
    4th Intern. Architecture Biennale Rotterdam

    Open City: Designing Coexistence/ Refuge
    Curated by Philipp Misselwitz and Can Altay
    4th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam

  • Jun 2009
    Why not to settle – migrate?
    Locarno

    Apppart Gallery
    A tiny atlas by Alessandro Martinelli about Hans Ulrich Obrist and the edge of curatorial practice (with textual interventions by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Joseph Grigely and Markus Miessen)

  • Feb 2009
    Buchmann Galerie
    Berlin

    Monuments with a Horizon Line II
    Closed Waters (with Bettina Pousttchi)

  • 2009
    Convergence
    Ordos Mongolia

    '<em>Convergence</em>' project, curated by Joseph Grima and Beatrice Galilee
    Contribution: Heavyweight (52° 29' 2.53" N 13° 22' 17.94" E)

  • Jan 2010
    Portscapes
    Rotterdam

    Portscapes, curated by Theo Tegelaers (SKOR) in collaboration with Latitudes

  • Jan 2009
    East Coast Europe revisited
    Munich
  • Nov 2008
    When Economies become Form
    Berlin

    When Economies become Form
    Curated by Serhat Koksal and Amirali Ghasemi

  • July 2008
    Manifesta 7

    The Museum for Franco Basaglia (by Stefano Graziani)
    Contributors include Stefano Boeri, Franco Rotelli, Pier Aldo Rovatti, Beppe Dall’Acqua, Markus Miessen, Michele Zanetti, Donatello de Mattia, and others.

  • Jun 2008
    1st International Roaming Biennial of Tehran
    Tehran

    When Economies become Form
    Curated by Serhat Koksal and Amirali Ghasemi

  • Mar 2008
    Art Dubai (UAE)
    Various Cities

    Chelsea Art Museum (New York); National Center for Contemporary Art (Moscow); Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève (Geneva); Phillips de Pury (London)
    Credit Suisse Collection
    In collaboration with Ralf Pflugfelder & nOffice
    Curated by Michelle Nicol

  • Mar 2008
    Toronto Free Gallery

    Creative Activism (with Patricia Reed)

  • Dec 2007
    Krome Gallery
    Berlin

    East Coast Europe
    Curated by Markus Miessen and Zak Kyes

  • Sep 2007
    Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE)
    Los Angeles

    Critical Planning and Spatial Justice/ An Atlas of Radical Cartography
    Host Not Found: A Traveling Monument to the Suppression of Search with Patricia Reed
    Curated by Ava Bromberg and Nicholas Brown

  • Sept 2007
    The History of a Decade that has not yet been named
    Lyon

    The History of a Decade that has not yet been named
    Europe: The Violence of Participation
    Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Stéphanie Moisdon

  • Mar 2007
    Gulf Art Fair/ Bloomberg
    Dubai

    Reading Room, curated by Bidoun & Third Line

  • Mar 2007
    revisit: URBANISM MADE IN LONDON
    Linz, Austria

    revisit: URBANISM MADE IN         LONDON
    Mapping London’s Spatial Practitioners
    (curated by Peter Arlt with Public Works and Muf)

  • May 2006
    Milan Triannale, Festa dell’Architettura
    Milan

    A Monument waiting to Happen
    A strategic design proposal for a re-appropriation of the Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea (with S. Basar)
    Curated by Stefano Boeri and Joseph Grima

  • May 2006
    Architectural Association
    London

    Every Little Helps
    On the urban impact of the NHS and Tesco estates
    Curated by Markus Miessen and Matthew Murphy

  • Jan 2006
    Volume
    Web Based

    Shareware
    On the impossibility of a roadmap for Europe
    Curated by Ole Bouman

  • Nov 2005
    Aedes
    Berlin

    Find the Gap
    New heads and paths in contemporary German architecture
    Curated by Kristin Feireiss
    AedesBerlin

  • Jun 2005
    2nd International Architecture Biennale
    Rotterdam

    ‘The Flood’
    A deck of cards taken from the cultural history of the Flood (with VOLUME)
    Curated by Ole Bouman

  • Jun 2005
    2nd International Architecture Biennale
    Rotterdam

    The Flood
    A deck of cards taken from the cultural history of the Flood (with VOLUME)
    Curated by Ole Bouman

  • Mar 2005
    Galerie Platform
    Berlin

    ‘Raumpioniere’ Stadtentwicklung durch Zwischennutzung
    Curated by Klaus Overmeyer

  • Jan 2004
    66East (Centre for Urban Culture)
    Amsterdam

    Spaces of Uncertainty
    Curated by Kenny Cupers and Markus Miessen
    66East Link

  • Oct 2003
    Spaces of Uncertainty
    London

    Spaces of Uncertainty
    Curated by Kenny Cupers and Markus Miessen at the Architectural Association

  • Nov 2003
    Recyclart
    Brussels

    I hate Sunday - Space Time Energy
    Curated by Kenny Cupers and Markus Miessen

  • Oct 2003
    Urban Drift
    Berlin

    (Transformers/ Pirated Space), ‘Spaces of Uncertainty’
    Curated by Francesca Ferguson
    Exhibition Link: http://urbandrift.org/

  • Sep 2003
    Galerie Framework
    Berlin

    Spaces – Time – Energy
    Curated by Kenny Cupers and Markus Miessen

  • Jul 2001
    International Congress Centre (ICC)
    Berlin

    Beijing Multiplicities
    Curated by Zamp Kelp

  • Aug 2000
    The Lighthouse
    Glasgow

    GIA Prize
    Curated by Stuart MacDonald

Conferences

  • Dec 2016
    The Bedford Tapes, AA
    London
  • Mar 2016
    Mextrópoli
    Mexico City
  • Set 2015
    Black Mountain
    Berlin

    Problems and perspectives of interdisciplinary art, education and research

  • May 2014
    Espacios de Anticipación
    Castellon

    EACC Castellon, Spain

  • Apr 2014
    Talks at the Lighthouse
    Glasgow
  • Mar 2014
    Critical Spatial Practice III: Beatriz Colomina launch
    Berlin
  • Jul 2013
    Think-Tank III: „Speaking on behalf of others”
    Frankfurt

    Frankfurt Weltkulturen Museum

  • Apr 2013
    Content as Signature?
    Frankfurt

    Speculations on contemporary roles in spatial practice and the architect as uninvited outsider

    Hosted by Markus Miessen, the symposium invites Erhan Oze, Kai Vöckler and Matthias Görlich to explore the question, 'Content as Signature?' The theme is set against the problem of 'participation' in contemporary planning and design processes.

  • Feb 2013
    Critical Spatial Practice Series
    New York, USA

    On the occasion of the book launch of What is Critical Spatial Practice?, editors Nikolaus Hirsch and Markus Miessen invite a series of protagonists from the fields of architecture, art, philosophy, and literature, including Beatriz Colomina, Liam Gillick, Aaron Levy, Suhail Malik, Reinhold Martin, Naeem Mohaiemen, Jorge Otero-Pailos, John Rajchman, Dieter Roelstraete, Martha Rosler and Felicity D. Scott to discuss the question of “what, today, can be understood as a critical modality of spatial practice?

  • Oct 2012
    Urban Matters
    Vienna
  • Sep 2012
    ETH
    Zurich
  • Jul 2012
    Participar.de
    Madrid
  • May 2012
    Planning Unplanned, Exploring the New Role of the Urban Practitioner
    Linz
  • Mar 2012
    Conference on Architecture, European Urbanisation and Globalisation
    New York

    Columbia University

  • Oct 2011
    Judgement
    Houston

    Rice University, Houston

  • Oct 2011
    Under Construction festival
    Warsaw

    Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw

  • Sep 2011
    The Louisiana Response: New Sensitivity in Contemporary Architecture
    Oslo
  • Sep 2011
    Urban States
    Los Angeles

    University of Southern California

  • Jun 2011
    Edinburgh International Film Festival
    Edinburgh

    24 hours of Spatial Politics, curated by Markus Miessen
    Inspace, 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AB
    www.edfilmfest.org.uk

  • Nov 2010
    Centre for the Study of Democracy/ University of Westminster
    London

    Democratic Politics: Between Antagonism and Agonism (An International Symposium on the Work of Chantal Mouffe)
    With Doreen Massey, Alex Duttmann, Katja Kipping, Frank Cunningham, Oliver Marchart, Terrell Carver, Nico Carpentier, Yannis Stavrakakis and Markus Miessen

  • Mar 2011
    The Archive as a Productive Space of Conflict
    London
  • Nov 2010
    Lisbon Architecture Triennale, International Conference
    Lisbon

    Architecture [in] ]out[ Politics
    With, amongst others, Jeffrey Inaba, Reinhold Martin, Yona Friedman, Jonathan Hill, Pier Vittorio Aureli, Sarah Whiting and Philippe Rahm
    http://www.trienaldelisboa.com/2010/en/international-conference

  • Oct 2010
    Expodium
    Utrecht

    On The Nightmare of Participation
    With: Mika Hannula, Luc Janssens, Bart Witte, Vesna Madzoski
    Workshop with students from MaHKU, Utrecht Graduate School of Visual Art and Design

  • Oct 2010
    SKOR – Felix Meritis
    Amsterdam

    Actors, Agents and Attendants: Speculations on the Cultural Organisation of Civility

  • Jun 2010
    Institut für Raumexperimente
    Berlin

    Space Activism Marathon
    With: Vito Acconci, Monica Bonvicini, Olafur Eliasson, Eric Ellingsen, Mathias Heyden, Bjarke Ingels, Achim Menges, Robert Merk, Markus Miessen, Office for Subversive Architecture, François Roche, Anri Sala, Tomas Saraceno, SMAQ, Topotek 1 and Christina Werner

  • Dec 2009
    Jan van Eyck Academie
    Antwerp

    The Unresolved Borders of Europe
    With Chantal Mouffe, Paul Scheffer, Markus Miessen, Lieven De Cauter, Saskia Sassen and Etienne Balibar.
    Conference PDF (1Mb)

  • Jun 2009
    Portscapes
    Rotterdam

    A series of conversations lead by Markus Miessen, injected into the project framework alongside the construction of Maasvlakte 2, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

  • Jul 2009
    Haus der Architektur
    Graz

    Joint Action in Architecture – getting political again?
    With Petra Ceferin, Brian Cody, Christian Felber, Francesca Ferguson, Zvi Hecker, Markus Miessen, Roger Riewe, Werner Sewing, Michael Sorkin, Srdjan Jovanovic Weiss

  • Jul 2009
    University of Brighton – Centre for Research and Development
    Brighton

    Occupation: Negotiations with Constructed Space
    With Irit Rogoff, Eyal Weizman, Neil Leach, Fred Scott, Maxine Naylor and Markus Miessen

  • April 2009
    London Festival of Europe
    London

    The Courtauld Institute of Art
    Discussion panel with Stefano Boeri and Hans Ulrich Obrist
    Download Conference Poster as PDF (2Mb)

  • Mar 2009
    Emily Carr University of Art and Design
    Vancouver

    Writing/Art symposium

  • Oct 2008
    Technical University Delft
    Delft

    Architecture & The Mind: from bio-politics to noo-politics
    Speakers and Participants include: Yann M. Boutang, Charles Wolfe, John Proveti, Keller Easterling, Markus Miessen, Bruce Wexler, Scott Kelso, Jordan Crandall, Andreas Angelidikas, Abdul – Karim Mustapha
    Download Conference Poster as PDF (584kb)

  • Oct 2008
    Swiss Institute, NYC
    New York

    East Coast Europe talks and book launch
    Panel discussion with Eda Cufer, Zak Kyes and Markus Miessen

  • Sept 2008
    Neue Nationalgalerie
    Berlin

    40 Years of Neue Nationalgalerie
    Michael Kimmelman (New York Times) in conversation with Matthias Böttger, Jürgen Mayer-H and Markus Miessen

  • Sept 2008
    Venice Biennale, Dutch Pavilion Archiphoenix: Beyond the Singular
    Venice

    Tomislav Medak (Multimedia Institute), Marko Sancanin (Platforma 9.81), Markus Miessen (Studio Miessen), Damon Rich (CUP), and Joseph Grima (Store Front Gallery).
    Download Conference Poster as PDF (588kb)

  • Apr 2008
    New School – Vera List Centre for Arts and Politics
    New York

    East Coast Europe (panel discussion and presentations)
    Participants: Carin Kuoni, Alenka Suhadolnik, Markus Miessen, Srdjan Jovanovic Weiss, Reinier de Graaf, Marjetica Potrc, Aaron Levy, and Dan Perjovschi.

  • Nov 2007
    The Political Equator II
    Tijuana

    Centro Cultural Tijuana
    Moderated discussion with John Palmesino, Kyong Park, Srdjan Jovanovic Weiss and Lieven de Cauter
    Download Conference Poster as PDF

  • Nov 2007
    AA
    London

    On Boundaries
    Roundtable with Nikolaus Hirsch and Shumon Basar

  • May 2007
    inSITE, The Situational Drive
    New York

    Complexities of Public Sphere Engagement
    Cooper Union
    Round-table panel discussion with Anton Vidokle, Mans Wrange, and Doug Ashford Cooper Union, in cooperation with creativetime and inSITE

  • May 2007
    International Design Forum
    Dubai
  • Mar 2007
    Evasions of Power
    Philadelphia

    University of Pennsylvania
    Department of Architecture, PENN School of Design
    Slought Foundation
    Conference, Conversation, Tour and Roundtable

  • June 2007
    Venice Biennale ‘New City-Territories’
  • Nov 2006
    The Camp for Oppositional Architecture
    Utrecht

    Presenting Paper: The Violence of Participation
    Download Conference Poster as PDF

  • May 2006
    The Transient Institution – Institute of Urban Memory
    Berlin

    Workshop on the occasion of the exhibition "The Momental" at Sparwasser HQ

  • Jun 2004
    Camp for Oppositional Architecture
    Berlin