Mission
Our explicit mission is to be a platform for discussing information to become an intelligible and coherent basis for building resilient and sustainable communities.
Aedes is the leading cultural brand for architecture and urban design in the world: an acclaimed independent network platform for the exhibition, discussion and mediation of contemporary space-making. Since 1980, Aedes Architecture Forum has showcased numerous pioneering and internationally prominent architects. Building upon this expertise and network, Aedes directors Kristin Feireiss and Hans-Jürgen Commerell conceived the Aedes Metropolitan Laboratory in 2009, which has since curated a globally renowned discussion and enquiry programme.
For its outstanding achievements in the field of building culture, Aedes has been awarded many international honours and prizes.
Public Cultural Platform
Contributing substantially to the discourse of space making in its changing political, societal and cultural frameworks by offering a welcoming platform for exchange and collective discussion of the urgent challenges shaping our common future, and generating innovative ideas.
International Network
Initiating worldwide collaborations across conventional boundaries and facilitating interdisciplinary exchange by bringing together proposals from architecture and spatial practice with societal and cultural discourses, technical research, political considerations and industry products.
Alternative Architectural Education
Offering students and faculty the space and opportunity to experiment with new methods, approaches and collaborations away from their usual academic situations, in collaboration with 80 leading universities from around the world to date.
Team
Mathias Schnell, Christine Meierhofer, Dunya Bouchi, Hans-Jürgen Commerell, Lukas Feireiss and Miriam Mlecek (L–R) © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk
Aedes is directed by partners Dunya Bouchi, Hans-Jürgen Commerell, Lukas Feireiss, Christine Meierhofer, Miriam Mlecek and Mathias Schnell. Curatorial and strategic decisions, as well as the programming of exhibitions, talks and educational formats are developed collaboratively.
Further team members are Mads Ahues, Dan Dorocic, Francesca Bani, Henriette Bunne, Ramona Kleinfeldt, Nora Ouwerkerk and Christian Thomas.
Contact: aedes@aedes.global
CVs Partners
Dunya Bouchi
born in 1975, is a curator and editor. Since 2010, she has been working at Aedes in the areas of talks and publications. Previously, she was active in research institutions and international cooperation in urban development in Berlin and Damascus. She holds an M.A. in History and Political Science and studied in Paris, Berlin and London.
Hans-Jürgen Commerell
born in 1960, is a photographer, curator and editor. He has worked for Aedes in the areas of exhibitions and talks since 1993. He studied social and business communication at the Berlin University of the Arts. In 2009, he conceived and founded the Aedes Metropolitan Laboratory, a public education platform as an extension of the Aedes exhibition programme.
Lukas Feireiss
born in 1977, is a curator, author and coach. He is a consultant for Aedes since 2024. Lukas studied comparative religion, philosophy and ethnology in Berlin and Rome. He works at the transdisciplinary interface of science and knowledge art and has curated numerous exhibitions worldwide and published books on architecture, art and design – in theory and practice.
Christine Meierhofer
was born in 1966, studied visual media design at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and has been working for Aedes in the areas of exhibitions and publications since 2001. Her focus is on communicating the content of the Aedes programme. She translates complex topics for a broad audience and presents them in an appealing and accessible way.
Miriam Mlecek
was born in 1977, studied architecture and has been working for Aedes in the areas of talks and publications since 2012. Previously, Miriam worked in renowned offices in Berlin and Sydney and taught at the Leibniz University Hanover and the University of Sydney. Between 2005 and 2010 she founded and ran transitlounge berlin/sydney as a partner event of the transmediale festival in Berlin. From 2012-2014 Miriam curated street art exhibitions in Berlin and Canberra.
Mathias Schnell
born 1985, is an urban designer and has been working for Aedes in the areas of exhibitions and publications since 2017. As a partner at studio central, he works as a freelance curator, including for the German Architecture Museum in Frankfurt am Main. Before joining Aedes, he worked at the Bundesstiftung Baukultur in Potsdam. He studied at the HafenCity University Hamburg and the University of Art and Design Linz.
