The SI and IUSD are looking forward to welcome Prof. Antje Steinmüller who will talk about Commoning Domestic Space examining contemporary communal living in California –
from intentional communities to co-living startups and hacker hostels – in front of the backdrop of well-known California communes of the 1960s and 70s. Comparing case studies of this domestic typology through an analysis of its spatial organization (hardware), social configuration (software) and governance (orgware), the research identifies inherent patterns within the shifting conceptions of public and private spheres, revealing how these collective living environments leverage scarce urban space toward shaping broader communities that redefine the family unit.
The Lecturer:
Antje Steinmuller is an architectural designer and educator whose research explores the agency of design (and designers) at the intersection of citizen-led and city-regulated processes. Her work investigates tools for citizen engagement in the formation of urban space, new forms of collective living, and the agency of architecture vis-a-vis the current housing crisis. Antje is an Associate Professor at California College of the Arts where she chairs the Bachelor of Architecture program and co-directs the Urban Works Agency research lab. She is also a co-founder of ideal X, a design consultancy focused on the potentials of public spaces in transition. She holds a Master of Architecture degree from University of California, Berkeley, where she was a John K. Branner Fellow, an undergraduate degree in Architecture from Technische Universitaet Berlin, and a professional degree in Interior Architecture from Hochschule fuer Technik Stuttgart.
