Jolanthe Kugler is curator for contemporary design and architecture at mudac - Musée cantonal de design in Lausanne, Switzerland, co-director of the design research review RADDAR, published by mudac (until 2023 in collaboration with T&P Work Unit, Paris) and professor at the Politecnico di Milano - Scuola di design in Milan, Italy. After studying architecture, art history and urban sociology in Mendrisio, Florence and Paris with a Master of Science in Architecture from the Accademia di architettura di Mendrisio, Switzerland, she worked for several years as an architect in Switzerland and Italy (design, project and construction management). From 2009 to 2022 she held various positions, most recently as a lecturer at the Institute for Urban Development at the University of Applied Sciences FHNW Basel, Switzerland, focussing on criteria and processes for social and sustainable urban development and the interplay between social, built, and perceived environments. From 2012 to 2020 she was a curator at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, where she curated numerous international travelling exhibitions on various topics related to the design of our everyday life, including Lightopia, Shiro Kuramata. Design as Poetry, The Bauhaus #itsalldesign and Balkrishna Doshi. Architecture for the People. She holds a specialisation in Urbanism from the University of Applied Sciences ZHAW in Zurich and in Didactics in Higher Education from the University of Fribourg. She is the editor of several books on design and architecture (including the award-winning monograph on Balkrishna Doshi and the first architectural guide to the anthroposophical colony around the world-famous Goetheanum near Basel), has written numerous articles for specialist publications and journals on design and architecture and regularly shares her expertise as a lecturer, guest critic and jury member.
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Exhibitions
2023, mudac - Musée cantonal de design, Lausanne
SPACE IS THE PLACE. THE SEASON
Space is the Place is a programme focusing on the complex relationship between the cosmos and our planet. Bringing together the work of designers, artists and science fiction writers, as well as a wide range of stakeholders the programme includes two exhibitions, three publications and a series of events on these issues.
Curated by Jolanthe Kugler and Scott Longfellow
Graphic Design by Notter & Vigne
Cosmos. Design From Here And Beyond
The first exhibition examines the universe from Earth. It explores designers' and artists’ fascination with the laws of astrophysics, observable phenomena and the fascinating beauty of the cosmos. It invites aesthetic reflection on time and space, origins and ends.
Curated by Marie Pok, Director CID, and Thomas Hertog, astrophysicist
Exhibition Design by Ghaith & Jad
Graphic Design by Ekta
Terra. Designing Our Planet
The second exhibition reverses the perspective. Here, in keeping with the second Copernican revolution, we look at our planet from space. The exhibition examines the techno-scientific promises of absolute control and manipulation of our planet, inherited from the Age of Enlightenment and largely accelerated by the industrial revolution and, more recently, geoengineering.
Curated by Jolanthe Kugler and Scott Longfellow
Exhibition Design by Magali Conus and Camille Némethy
Graphic Design by Notter & Vigne
2023, G80 by Fragmentin, mudac Pavillion, London Design Biennale, London
G80. By Fragmentin, Lausanne
How far are we willing to go to optimise the management of the whole earth? G80 speculates on a global management system for planetary issues by bringing together different types of intelligence around a control console. G80 is an interactive work by the Swiss collective Fragmentin, commissioned by mudac.
Curated by Scott Longfellow and Jolanthe Kugler
Work commissioned by mudac for the exhibition Terra. Designing Our Planet.
2023, DropCity, Fuorisalone, Salone del Mobile, Milano, Italy
Prepper's Pantry. Objects That Saves Lives
Inside Tunnel 46 of Dropcity the exhibition Prepper’s Pantry: Objects that Save Lives, a project by Anniina Koivu is a preamble of future research and an exhibition that will unfold at mudac in 2024. “Preppers” and “survivalists” are terms that tend to evoke extreme, marginalised images: a woodsman in the tinfoil hat, a hoarder of canned beans, a religious doomsdayer. However, this subculture has in fact evolved over the last century, mirroring larger social trends. The Milan installation is a first introduction to a new broad-based research on preparedness, inviting visitors to step into a Prepper’s Pantry.
Curated by Anniina Koivu
Exhibition Design by Camille Blin, Anthony Guex, Christian Spiess
Graphic Design by Frederik Mahler-Andersen
Project Management Jolanthe Kugler
The Last Pencil by studio OIO
Titled The Last Pencil, this cunning experiment launches a year-long residency as part of a new program strand exploring processes of collaboration between institutional and artificial intelligence.The residency, the first of which features studio oio, will see selected creative practitioners use the museum as a case study and, by entering its operational system, prototype concrete ideas embracing the engagement of non-human agency in its practice. The Last Pencil is a project exploring the evolution of drawing tools in the age of post-human intelligences. Just like pencils have been a fundamental tool of human creativity throughout history, The Last Pencil is a provocative depiction of how artificial intelligences could radically change the way we design together, in a not-too-distant future
Curated by Scott Longfellow
Project Management Jolanthe Kugler
2019, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein
Balkrishna Doshi – Architecture for the People
The first international retrospective about the 2018 Pritzker Prize laureate Balkrishna Doshi (born 1927, Pune, India) outside of Asia. The renowned architect and urban planner is one of the few pioneers of modern architecture in his home country and the first Indian architect to receive the prestigious award. The exhibition presents numerous significant projects realized between 1958 and 2014, ranging in scale from entire cities and town planning projects to academic campuses as well as cultural institutions and public administrative offices, from private residences to interiors.
Curated by Khushnu Panthaki Hoof and Jolanthe Kugler.
A project by the Vitra Design Museum and the Wüstenrot Foundation in cooperation with the Vastushilpa Foundation.
Further venues:
Architekturmuseum der Technischen Universität München, Allemagne, 2020
Wrightwood 659, Chicago, USA, 2020
Museo ICO, Madrid, Spain, 2023
2019, Kulturreverenz, Basel
In collaboration with Neues Orchester Basel.
Concept: Christian Kathriner, Christian Knüsel, Jolanthe Kugler
Text: Jolanthe Kugler
2017, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein
An Eames Celebration
Charles & Ray Eames. The Power of Design, Vitra Design Museum
Ideas and Information. Die Eames-Filme, Zaha Hadid Fire Station
Play Parade. Eine Eames-Ausstellung für Kinder, Vitra Design Museum Gallery (with Janna Lipsky)
Kazam! Die Möbelexperimente von Charles & Ray Eames, Vitra Schaudepot
Curators: Catherine Ince, Jolanthe Kugler, Janna Lipsky, Hang Zhi
2016, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein
Vitra Schaudepot
Designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron, the Schaudepot opened in 2016. It hosts part of the collection of the Vitra Design Museum, which with 7000 pieces of furniture, over 1000 lighting objects, and numerous archives, as well as the estates of several famous designers, ranks among the most important holdings of furniture design in the world. The permanent exhibition presents over 400 key pieces of modern furniture design from 1800 to the present.
Project management interior and exhibition design
2015, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein
The Bauhaus #itsalldesign
Further venues:
Bundeskunsthalle Bonn, Bonn, Allemagne, 2016
Tel Aviv Art Museum TAMA, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2016
ADAM Art and Design Atomium Museum, Bruxelles, Belgique, 2017
mudac – Musée de design et d'arts appliqués contemporains, Lausanne, 2018
Designmuseum Denmark, Copenhague, Danemark, 2019
Exhibition Design by Kuehn Malvezzi, Berlin
2015, Vitra Design Museum Gallery, Weil am Rhein
Forum for an Attitude
What is the ambition of designers today? Why did they become designers? What kind of social influence do they hope to achieve? What image of design is conveyed to society? And how can an attitude be expressed in design? The exhibition »Forum for an Attitude« considers these questions and presents answers and positions on the topic.
An exhibition by Depot Basel in collaboration with Vitra Design Museum
2014, Vitra Design Museum Gallery, Weil am Rhein
Visiona 1970. Revisiting the Future
The Phantasy Landscape (also called »living cave«) on the main deck of the »Loreley« – generally remembered as the most impressive space of »Visiona 2« – can be considered the climax of Panton’s creative vision. This room discarded all traditional notions of architecture: the floors, walls, ceilings, and furniture seemed to be created from a single cast. The windowless space lacked any connection to the outside world and presented itself as an organic landscape, characterised by dynamic curved shapes that seemed as though they were cut out of the material itself. The elements in various shades of blue and red were like a multiplication of his famous Living Towers placed after one another: the blue shades on the outside, the red shades increasingly becoming brighter on the inside, so that the psychedelic arrangement appeared to glow from within.
2014, Vitra Design Museum Gallery, Weil am Rhein
Shiro Kuramata. Design as Poetry.
Shiro Kuramata (1934 – 1991), one of the most important Japanese designers of the twentieth century, combined the traditional aesthetic of his native culture with the western design principles of Postmodernism. His works are made of industrial materials such as expanded metal mesh, glass and acrylic, bear poetic names like »How High the Moon« and »Miss Blanche« and seem to defy gravity.
Exhibition Design by David Saik, Berlin
2013, Dreiländereck, Basel
Siegrun Appelt - Lichtszene Dreiland
"Lichtszene - Dreiland" focuses on the nocturnal face of the border triangle. With pointed interventions on both banks of the Rhine in all three nations, the diverse aesthetic and spatial quality of this unique space is brought out. The exciting thing about this artwork is the interplay of specially installed spotlights with the existing public and private lighting.
In collaboration with Vitra Design Museum and IBA Basel 2020
2013, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein
Lightopia
Over the past century, electric light has revolutionised our environment, unlike hardly any other medium. It has transformed our cities, created new lifestyles and working conditions, and became a catalyst of progress for industry, medicine and communication. New lighting technologies are currently bringing about profound changes in the domain of artificial lighting. This development is the subject of the Vitra Design Museum’s exhibition »Lightopia«.
Further venues:
Designmuseum Gent, Gent, Belgique, 2014
Espace Fondation EDF, Paris, France, 2014
Hofmobiliendepot, Vienne, Autriche, 2015
MAAT Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbonne, Portugal, 2016
MARCO Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Monterrey, Mexico, 2016
Exhibition Design by Groenlandbasel
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Publications
2023
Objectiv Earth. Designing Our Planet.
Has our planet become an object of design? In today's world of geoengineering, cloud seeding and ambitous projects to control planetary ecosystems, the question seems more justified than ever.
With contributions by Joseph Popper, Sabine Höhler, Juliette Bibasse and Joanie Lemercier, Frédéric Neyrat, Aram Kebabdjian and Stéphane Perraud, Fragmentin, Tellart.
Editors: Kugler J., Longfellow S.,
mudac with presse du réelle
2023
Keep It Flat. A Little History On Flat Earth.
The Book brings together the views of a design theorist, a neuroscientist, two designers and curators Jolanthe Kugler and Scott Longfellow in an attempt to eschew the Mnichean vision that generally drives the collective subconsciousness and to understand the underlying mechanisms on which flat earth theory is grounded.
With contributions by Antoine Foeglé and Emma Pflieger, Alexandra Midal, Albert Moukheiber
Editors: Kugler J., Longfellow S.,
mudac with presse du réelle
2020
Building the Baloise Park. Diener & Diener, August + Margrith Künzel, Miller & Maranta, Valerio Olgiati, Thomas Schütte, Matteo Thun.
Editors: Kugler J., Heim C., Schmid, A.W.
Christoph Merian Verlag
2019
Balkrishna Doshi. Architecture for the People
Edited by Kries, M., Kugler, J., Panthaki, K.
Vitra Design Museum. With contributions by Balkrishna Doshi, Kenneth Frampton, Kazi Ashraf, and Juhani Pallasmaa.
Richard Schlagmann Art Book Award 2019
New York Times Best Art Books, 2019
2017
Eames Furniture Sourcebook
Edited by Kries, M., Kugler, J.
Vitra Design Museum
With contributions by Pat Kirkham, Eames Demetrios, and Amy Auscherman.
2015
The Bauhaus #itsalldesign
Edited by Kries, M., Kugler, J.
Vitra Design Museum
With contributions by Olaf Nicolai, Adrian Sauer, Wilfried Kühn, Joseph Grima, Arthur Rüeg, and Jan Boelen, among others.
2013
Lightopia
Edited by Kries, M., Kugler, J.
Vitra Design Museum
With contributions by Beate Binder, Thea Brejzek, Hartmut Böhme, Fulvio Ferrari, Peter and Charlotte Fiell, Joseph Grima, Bart Lootsma, Sidney Perkowitz, and Peter Weibel.
2011
Architekturführer Goetheanumhügel. Die Dornacher Anthroposophen-Kolonie
Edited by Kugler J.
Niggli Verlag
With contributions by Wolfgang Zumdick, Wolfgang Pehnt, and Walter Kugler.
Further publications
Contributions to books
Kugler, J. (2023) Le Changement de génération de l’école Grand-Ducale des Métiers d’Art au Bauhaus. In: Kevin Saladé et Priska Schmückle von Minckwitz (ed.) Henry van de Velde et le Bauhaus. Art, industrie et pédagogie. Les éditions, Académie Royale de Belgique.
Kugler, J., Longfellow S. (2023) Flatosphere. In: Kugler J., Longfellow S. (ed.) Keep it Flat. A little history on flat earth. Lausanne: mudac & Les presses du reel.
Kugler J., Longfellow S. (2023) Objective: Earth. Designing our Planet. An Introduction. In: Kugler J., Longfellow S. (ed.) Objective Earth. Designing our Planet. Lausanne: mudac & Les presses du reel.
Kugler, J. (2022) Holländische Seebadarchitektur lebendig-organisch interpretiert: Das Haus Stuten. In: Feind-Laurents, A. (2022) Jan Stuten. Musiker und Bühnenbildner am Goetheanum, Verlag am Goetheanum, 199–210.
Kugler, J. and Pirola, M. (2021) Taken to the limits – and a bit beyond. Gino Sarfatti and Ingo Maurer. In: Koivu A. and Caputo, A. (Ed.) (2022) U-Joints. A taxonomy of connections, SYNC-SYNC Editions, 270-283.
Kugler, J. (2021) Natural Presence and Welcoming Composure. The work of Serge Schoemaker in the Context of Swiss architecture. In: Ibelings, H. (Ed.), Fort Hoofddorp. Serge Schoemaker architect, Architectural Observer, 76–85.
Kugler, J. (2020) Im Gespräch mit: Valerio Olgiati, Quintus Miller u. Paola Maranta, Roger Diener, Margriet Künzel. In: Kugler J., Heim C., Schmid, A.W. (Ed.) (2020) Building the Baloise Park. Basel: Christoph Merian Verlag.
Kugler, J. (2019) Balkrishna Doshi. His life and work. In: Kries, M., Kugler, J., Panthaki, K. (Ed.) (2019) Balkrishna Doshi. Architecture for the People. Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum.
Kugler, J. (2019) Aktualität und Zugänglichkeit. Bauhaus ausstellen heute. In: Seemann H. T., Valk T. (Ed.) Entwürfe der Moderne. Bauhaus-Ausstellungen 1923-2019. Jahrbuch 2019 Klassik Stiftung Weimar. Göttingen: Wallstein.
Kugler J., Pirola M. (2019) Bauhaus Int. & Co. In: Aldo Colonetti, Bauhaus 100, Milano: Electa.
Kugler, J. (2018) Bauhaus By Design. The Outlook and Influence of the Bauhaus Masters. In: Dietrich, L., Bradbury, D. (Ed.) Modernist Design Complete. London: Thames & Hudson.
Kugler, J. (2017) Evolution Instead of Revolution: The Furniture of Charles and Ray Eames. In: Kries M., Kugler, J. (Ed.) Eames Furniture Sourcebook, Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum.
Kugler, J., Cunz, T. (2017) Plywood. In: In: Kries M., Kugler, J. (Ed.) (2017) Eames Furniture Sourcebook, Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum.
Kugler, J., Cunz, T. (2017) Fibreglass. In: In: Kries M., Kugler, J. (Ed.) Eames Furniture Sourcebook, Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum.
Kugler, J., Cunz, T. (2017) Wire. In: In: Kries M., Kugler, J. (Ed.) Eames Furniture Sourcebook, Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum.
Kugler, J., Cunz, T. (2017) Aluminium. In: In: Kries M., Kugler, J. (Ed.) (Eames Furniture Sourcebook, Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum.
Kugler, J., Cunz, T. (2017) Storage Units. In: In: Kries M., Kugler, J. (Ed.) Eames Furniture Sourcebook, Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum.
Kugler, J. (2015) Alles ist gestaltbar. Bauhaus-Ideen im Kontext. In: Kries, M., Kugler J. (Ed.), Das Bauhaus #allesistdesign, Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum.
Kugler, J. (2015) LichtSchatten. In: Appelt, S. (Ed.), Lichtprojekte Wachau 2010-2015, Dortmund: Kettler.
Kugler, J. (2014) Raum Ort Architektur. In: Zumdick, W., Joseph Beuys und die Architektur. Perspektiven und Akzente, Stuttgart: Johannes M. Mayer.
Kugler, J. (2013) Bright Future? In: Kries, M., Kugler J. (Ed.) Lightopia. Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum.
Kugler, J. (2013) Light for the 21st Century. In: Kries, M., Kugler J. (Ed.) Lightopia. Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum.
Kugler, J. (2010) Ageing in Place - Wohnformen für das Alter in der Sozialregion Olten, Institut für Sozialplanung und Stadtentwicklung Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Basel.
Kugler, J. (2010) Der Beitrag von Grundeigentümern und Liegenschaftsverwaltungen bei der
Quartierentwicklung am Beispiel Pratteln-Längi, Institut für Sozialplanung und Stadtentwicklung Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Basel.
Kugler, J. (2004) Vicinato-Nachbarschaft. In: Perulli P., Vegetti, M. (Ed.) La città. Note per un lessico sociofilosofico. Mendrisio: Edizioni didattiche.
Contributions in international journals
Kugler, J. (2021) Ein Modell für Nachhaltigkeit. Die Dornacher Anthroposophen-Kolonie und Rudolf Steiner lebendig-organischer Architekturbegriff. In: k + a, Kunst und Architektur in der Schweiz 02/2021, 10–19.
Cunz, T., Kugler, J. (2018) An Eames Celebration. In: Domus 10/2018
Cunz, T., Kugler, J. (2018) An Eames Celebration. In: Baumeister 02/2018
Kugler, J. (2018) Behutsam und radikal zugleich. In: db Metamorphosen 03/2018
Kugler, J. (2016) Hotel Nomad in Basel. In: db Metamorphosen 12/2016
Kugler, J. (2014) Behutsam weiterentwickeln. Hebelschulhaus in Riehen. In: db Metamorphosen 12/2014
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Talks
2023
Quʹest-ce que le Bauhaus? RTS Monumental, November 12
Dirty Realism. Balkrishna Doshis Architektur für den Mensch. Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt, Germany.
Design et genre. Pourquoi il est urgent de ne plus concevoir le monde uniquement pour les hommes. Mudac, Lausanne, Switzerland
Food Design. À la recherche de la forme parfaite. Festival Histoire et Cité «Nourrir le monde», Plateforme 10, Lausanne, Switzerland.
2022
Habitat. De la maison auchez-soi
Cuisine. Entre fonctionnalité et plaisir
Salle de Bain Hygiène et bien-être
Salon. Confort et bien vivre
Conference cycle "DesignLunch", mudac, Lausanne, Switzerland
2019
Ohne Plüsch und Fransen. 100 Jahre Bauhaus. Keynote, graduate conference, Cusanuswerk, Münster, Germany.
Ganzheitliche Lebensraumgestaltung am Bauhaus. Keynote, conference, Alanus Hochschule für Kunst und Gesellschaft, Alfter. In collaboration with Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau, Dessau, Germany.
Bauhaus. 3 years – 3 old men – 3 concepts – 3 fields? Designmuseum Danmark, Kopenhagen, Denmark.
Le premier Bauhaus et la Kunstgewerbeschule de Weimar: Henry van de Velde et Walter Gropius. Symposium «Henry van de Velde et le Bauhaus. Art, industrie et pédagogie». Académie Royale de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium.
2018
The Ornament: More than Decoration. From Loos ornament and crime to Philip Ursprung’s reevaluation of the surface. Biennale di Venezia, Turkish Pavilion, Workshop «Shift 9 Ornament», Venice, Italy.
Sejima and Nishizawa (SANAA). Curating people’s everyday life. UBS Arts Forum, «Die Zeit der Oberflächen: Kunst, Architektur, Design», Thun, Switzerland.
2017
The Bauhaus and the Invention of a Broadened Notion of Design. ADAM Art and Design Atomium Museum, Brussels, Belgium.
Design et entreprise. Au-delà de l’économie. «Le design s’invite à la Vaudoise», Vaudoise Assurances, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Gli Eames. Evoluzione invece di rivoluzione. Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Designing Exhibitions. From the Curatorial Concept to the Synthesis of Narration and Architectural Form. Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
2016
Thinking Bauhaus. TAMA Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Designing with Light. The Technological Shift from Light Bulbs to Light Emitting Diodes. MARCO Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Monterrey, Mexico.
Scuola, Idea, Visione: La Bauhaus. Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Changed Perspectives: From Lighting Design to Designing Light. MAAT Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon, Portugal.
Zukunft einer Idee: Das Bauhaus und sein Gestaltungsbegriff. Thomas-Morus-Akademie, Bensberg, Germany (hosted by: Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn).
Ist alles Design? Das Bauhaus und sein Designbegriff. Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, Germany.
Das Bauhaus: Zukunft einer Idee. IMM Cologne, Köln, Germany.
2015
Today’s Challenge: Shaping Light instead of Designing Lamps. BRAFA Art Talks, BRAFA Art Fair, Brussels, Belgium.
Stadträume sichtbar machen. Städtische Beleuchtungskonzepte. International Symposium «Licht Macht Zeit und Raum. Wirkungsweisen künstlicher Beleuchtung auf Individuum und Gesellschaft, Natur und Umwelt», Stift Melk, Melk, Austria.
La Bauhaus: Disaccordo produttivo. Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
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Teaching
since 2023
Lezioni di Design. Fundamentals of interior and spatial design.
Politecnico di Milano – Scuola di Design, Milano, Italy
2021
Social Work and Nature
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Muttenz
Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Social Work
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Muttenz
Planning and Governance of the Social Space
2020–2022
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Muttenz; part of the major in the BA Social Work “Social Inequality and Space” (6 ECTS, semi-annual).
2015 – 2018
Design e Arte
Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy (with Dr. Matteo Pirola)
2012 and 2013
Social Work and Urban Development
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Muttenz
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Awards & Fellowships
2019
Richard Schlagman Art Book Award
For the publication Balkrishna Doshi: Architecture for the People.
New York Times Best Art Books
For the publication Balkrishna Doshi: Architecture for the People.
2006
ZIP-Bau Award
Recognition Award for the publication Perulli P., Vegetti, M. (Ed.) La città. Note per un lessico sociofilosofico. Mendrisio: Edizioni didattiche
2000
ERASMUS
Scholarship, study abroad at Ecole d’architecture de Paris-Belleville, Paris, France