ewoTALK #5 – URBAN LOUNGE: The public space as a living room

Dr. Sandra Hofmeister is an author and editor. She studied architecture, art history and Romance studies at the Technical and Free University of Berlin and at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where she also completed her doctorate. As an editor and author, she has published numerous books in German and English focusing on contemporary architecture. Her most recently published titles include "Schedlberg. Peter Haimerl, beierle.goerlich" (Edition Detail 2019), "My Bauhaus / Mein Bauhaus" (Edition Detail 2018) and "Our Bauhaus Heritage / Unser Bauhaus Erbe", Edition Detail 2019). Her journalistic texts have appeared in German and English-language newspapers and magazines as well as on online platforms. Sandra Hofmeister accompanied the launch of the German Domus and was editor-in-chief of the magazine until 2015. She has been editor-in-chief of Detail since 2016 and heads the magazine and online editorial team in addition to the book program. She currently also teaches at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and works for numerous juries.

In her research, Elina Kränzle deals with the built environment and the spatial living conditions of the city as an expression of social conditions. She studied Urban Studies at the Bauhaus University Weimar (2008–2012), as well as European Urban Studies in Brussels, Vienna, Copenhagen and Madrid (2013–2015). Between 2015–2018 she worked as a university assistant at the Interdisciplinary Center for Urban Culture and Public Space, TU Vienna, as a freelancer at the Vienna Summer School in Urban Studies of the ÖAW/University of Vienna, and as an assistant to the head of the district work department/Caritas Vienna. Since 2018, she has been a Fellow of the German National Academic Foundation at the Interdisciplinary Center for Urban Culture and Public Space at the Vienna University of Technology, working on her doctoral thesis on the relationship between nationalism and the city.

Patrick Lüth has managed the Snøhetta Studio in Innsbruck since 2011, which now has 30 employees. He started as an intern in the Oslo office in 2005. There he was involved in many international competitions due to his exceptional design skills and was involved in some of Snøhetta's most spectacular design submissions. In Innsbruck, he manages the Swarovski projects "Kristallwelten Evolution" and the Manufaktur, an innovative building for production and creative collaboration.

Anna Rose is an architect and urban planner specializing in mixed-use master planning and public space design. Trained in Germany and the UK, she joined Space Syntax in 2002 and became Director in 2007. She is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at The Bartlett, UCL and a member of the UK Academy of Urbanism. Anna Rose is a regular speaker at industry and academic events worldwide. Anna leads the firm's design and consultancy activities in the UK, USA and continental Europe. She has extensive experience in advising private and public sector clients on spatially complex masterplanning projects, particularly in the design of effective human behavior patterns. Her expertise lies in the optimization of spatial layouts for pedestrians and cyclists (walkability, safety and sociability) and in the sustainability of local districts (retail performance, walking proximity, infrastructure density, transaction potential).

Hannes Wohlgemuth took over the management of the South Tyrolean lighting manufacturer ewo in 2019. As the son of the founders, he had been with ewo long before he decided to join the family business in 2012 after completing his architecture studies in Innsbruck, Seville and Graz. Having grown up with ewo, he gained experience in every department and thus acquired a fundamental knowledge of the lighting industry. As Head of Sales and Marketing at ewo, he focused on strengthening the company's international influence and global market expansion. Since spring 2017, Hannes has also been Managing Director of the start-up connexx, which develops hardware and software solutions for smart components. In all of these activities, he is driven by creative solutions paired with innovation.