It is an art to design public spaces, parks and landscapes.
Our task is to translate different needs into spatial visions. The goal is an integrated design and comprehensive planning of green and open spaces - taking into account climatic, ecological, social, economic, aesthetic and cultural dimensions.
>> References Competitions | Projects
...and others...
... arise from our imagination.
Therefore, designing landscapes and public spaces requires:
KNOWLEDGE of social and ecological transformation processes,
UNDERSTANDING of complex settings and conflicts,
SENSE for aesthetics and well-being.
>> References Talks | Guest Crits | Jury
2023 Lecture, "Urban cohabitation strategies. Visions and approaches" with Thomas E. Hauck, Circular Strategies Symposium 2023, University of Applied Arts Vienna
2023 Lecture, "Participation and social involvement", with Andreas Rockinger, lecture series "Natural, climate-friendly and diverse", Bavarian chamber of architects
2023 Talk and panel discussion, "Cultural Laboratory Seoul", Opening of exhibition "San Su In Mul: Mountain Water Human Building", Seoul Hall of Architecture and Urbanims, funded by Swiss Embassy and Seoul Metropolitan Government
2022 Panel discussion, "How many rights may (must) nature have?", Klimaseismograph für Natur und Gesellschaft, Symposion Dürnstein 2022
2022 Jury, competition "Neugestaltung Nibelungen Platz", City of St. Poelten
2022 Jury, competition "Neugestaltung Hauptstrasse",
City of Freilassing
2022 Jury, competition "Neubau Wohnanlage an der Oberen Pfalzgrafstrasse - Erna Angerbach wohnt im Gruenen",
City of Freising
2021 Lecture "Greening Seoul",
EPFL Lausanne
2021 Jury, competition "Promenadenring",
City of St. Poelten
2021 Lecture "Mediating Landscape",
TU Munich
2021 Guest Crit "Oberbuerg", Nuremberg Institute of Technology
2020 Talk "The urban park caught between recreational space and colonial instrument of power", with Damaris Baumann, 2. Schweizer Landschaftskongress
2020 Lecture "Cultural Laboratory Seoul: The park as a global remedy?", TU Munich & APHIN e.V.
2018 Lecture "Zum Einfluss kultureller Codes. Kulturlabor Seoul", University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf
2018 Lecture "Participation", University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf
2017 Talk "Cultural Laboratory Seoul", gta Werkstattgespraeche, Colloquium for Architecture, Art- and Art History, ETH Zurich
...and others...
Landscapes have the power to unite and to divide.
In view of the climate and biodiversity crisis, a wide variety of interests, needs and values collide in open space. For a constructive negotiation and design of these spaces and processes, co-creative participation methods and conflict resolution strategies are needed.
>> References Communication | Participation | Mediation
2023 Moderation and Concept „Workshop: Co-creativity on Crossroads“ with Prof. Sonja Hörster & Prof. Dr. Henrik Schultz
ECLAS Conference 2023, Brno
2022 Participation, Walk, Online-Participation „Open Space Concept Hamburg Bergedorf-West“ Collaboration with PolinnaHauck, Steg Hamburg, amedida group, Client: City of Hamburg
2021 Moderation "Prinzenpost", with S. Wolff
Client: GeQo
2021 Mediation B, Munich, with N. Disko, SteG
2020 Participation "Holcim Sommerdialog - Dialoginsel Umwelt" Collaboration with Adribo Stuttgart, Dr. P. Selke and M. Weinkopf, Client: Holcim Germany
2020 Moderation "Online-Salon - Augenhöhe in der Wirtschaft", WeiterDenker GbR
2020 Moderation Bauverein
with S. Wolff, Client: Bauverein Haidhausen
2019 Moderation "Inklusionsmaschine Stadt", Prof. A. Benze and Prof. Dr. D. Rummel, University of Applied Science Munich
2018 Moderation "Parity Talks III - Pedagogies", with G. Schaad, ETH Zürich
2018 Moderation H, Munich, with S. Epple, NextSpaces
2018 Participation W, Munich, with U. Ammermann, CityCom
...and others...
2023 Seminar „Communication Training GWG“, with N. Disko Client: GWG municipal housing company & City of Munich SteG
2021 Seminar "Resolving Conflicts Constructively", Client: didactica, ETH Zürich & Uni Zürich
2020 Seminar "Integrated Discipline: Stakeholder Analysis", Client: Technical University of Munich
2020 Seminar "Team building", with S. Wolff
Client: Ingolstadt
2019 Seminar "Resolving Conflicts Constructively", with C. Guter
Client: AVETH ETH Zürich
2019 Seminar "Team building", with S. Wolff
Client: Ingolstadt
2019 Seminar "Resolving Conflicts Constructively", Client: didactica, ETH Zürich & Uni Zürich
2018 Seminar "Conflict Management", with M. Weinkopf
Client: GEWOFAG
...and others...
Certification as Mediator, 1.5-year extra occupational study program
Various professional trainings, in e.g.: "Dynamic Facilitation", " Organization development and conflict clarification", "Conflict management from the point of view of brain research", "Shuttle and telephone mediation", "Systemic Constellation in mediation", "Intercultural communication", and more...
Landscapes and open spaces are multilayered and complex
How can we design sustainable transformations? A scientific examination of the context, the place, the inhabitants, the meaning and history provide a sound basis for future developments.
>> References Publications
>> Dissertation
2023 "Landscapes without landscape architects. The ecological beauty of informal urban landscapes", with Chiara Catalano, Thomas E. Hauck, Salvatore Pasta, in: Agathon - International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design
2023 "Das Extreme rüttelt auf! Interview of Stephanie Drlik with Susann Ahn and Thomas E. Hauck", in: Zoll+ 42/2023
2023 "Podcast: A Palaver im Gespräch mit Susann Ahn und Thomas Hauck", Radiosendung und Podcast zu Themen der Architektur
2022 "Divergent horizons",
in: Nodium 2023, TU Munich
2021 Urban morphology Study "Zwischen den Zeilen - Naschmarkt Wien", in collaboration with Erich Raith, Friedrich Hauer, Stefan Kubin, Mart Simisker, Studio Eva
City of Vienna
2020 "Cultural Laboratory Seoul. Emergence, Narrative and Impact of Culturally Related Landscape Meaning",
ETH Research Collection
2019 "Namsan and Yongsan - Landscape restoration as motor for urban change", in: DOMUS KOREA 1/19,
ONE O ONE Publisher
2018 "Aufgedeckte Geschichte" with Seonju Kim, in: Garten + Landschaft 11/18,
Callwey Publisher
2017 "Backflip - New Oerlikon Zurich" with Isabelle Fehlmann, in: Topos 100/2017,
Callwey Publisher
2017 "Von Freiraumintendanten und Planungsaktivisten" with Felix Lüdicke, in: Hauck et al. (Ed.): "Theorien der Aneignung von urbanen Freiräumen",
Trancript Publisher
2017 "Pamphlet 20 - Delta Dialogues" with Christophe Girot, Isabelle Fehlmann, Lara Mehling (Eds.), gta Publisher
2017 "Between the Lines" with Isabelle Fehlmann, Lara Mehling, in: Girot et al (Ed.): Pamphlet 20 - Delta Dialogues,
gta Publisher
2017 "Lost Periphery. Looking for a concept to design the greenbelt of Seoul" with Yun-Kyeong Hoh, in: Topos 98/2017, Callwey Publisher
2016 "False Nature?“ with Regine Keller, in: Girot, Christophe, Imhof, Dora (Ed.): Thinking the Contemporary Landscape,
Princeton Architectural Press
2016 "Mediation in der Planung" with Juliane Schneegans, in: Garten + Landschaft 12/2016, Callwey Publisher
2015 "The Renaissance of Nakta Mountain", in: Topos 92/2015,
Callwey Publisher
2013 "Stadt und Spiele – Das Spielkonzept des Olympischen Dorfs als partizipativer Gestaltungsprozess" with Thomas Hauck, Felix Lüdicke, Juliane Schneegans, in: Keller, Regine; Hennecke, Stephanie; Schneegans, Juliane (Ed.): Demokratisches Grün – Olympiapark,
Jovis Publisher
...and others...
The aim of the research project is to explore thoroughly,
how cultural patterns
and historical knowledge influence contemporary landscape design in Korea.
The dissertation Cultural Laboratory Seoul examines landscape restoration projects in the South Korean capital Seoul, which have influenced the urban fabric of the Korean capital since the 1980s. The landscape restoration projects have been supported by a paradigm shift from growth-oriented to environment-oriented approaches in Korean urban planning. In this context, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has sought means to convey traditional, historical and natural values through landscape restoration. In consequence, Seoul’s landscape elements—mountains, rivers, and valleys—have been cleared of apartment buildings and urban infrastructure, and afterwards have been greened. The challenge in many of these landscape restoration projects, however, has been to convey the traditional landscape meaning of these sites while meeting today’s landscape architectural standards and requirements as well as the needs of citizens. In order to gain a deeper understanding of how to deal with these challenges, the dissertation examines existing landscape restoration projects such as the restoration of Namsan (1990–2000), the restoration of Naksan (1997–2002), and the restoration of Inwangsan’s Suseongdong Valley (2007–2012). As a result, the dissertation first outlines the social, political, and cultural contexts from which the trend towards landscape restoration has emerged and answers the question of why restoration has become a popular landscape approach in Korean urban planning and landscape architecture. Second, the dissertation analyzes how culturally rooted landscape concepts are translated into the present. By comparing the intertextuality of the landscape—related exhibitions, planning documents, and information brochures—with interviews of municipal officials, practitioners, artists, and citizens affected by the projects, the thesis identifies the transmission, erasure and the reinterpretation of distinct landscape meanings and concepts. The tensions between national and local narratives imbedded in the sites are revealed, especially as related to power structures and prevalent ideologies. Third, the dissertation clarifies the relationship between the narrative, the built space, and the visitor’s perception. It explains how the acceptance and appropriation of these projects is influenced by a complex web of meanings, resources, and conflicts grounded upon different cultural and historical interpretations. On this basis, this dissertation argues for a mediating approach in landscape architecture that includes culturally related landscape understandings in the design for the creation of a spatial identity.
Supervisor: Prof. Christophe Girot, ETH Zürich
Co-Supervisor: Prof. Sung Hong Kim, University of Seoul
Project Funding/Scholarship: Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF and DARCH ETH, 2016–2019
Academic Publication: ETH Research Collection, 2019
Susann Ahn is licensed landscape architect, urban planner and certified mediator. She received her diploma at the Technical University Munich and her doctorate at ETH Zurich. For several years, she conducted international projects in various offices, before founding her own office in 2013. Besides, she was involved in teaching and research at the TU Munich and ETH Zurich from 2011-2021. In 2021, she was appointed as Professor for Landscape Architecture and Planning at the TU Wien together with Thomas E. Hauck.
AHN Landscape Mediation
Prof. Dr. Susann Ahn
Licensed Landscape Architect & Urban Planner ByAK |
Certified Mediator ÖBM
Email: info(at)susann-ahn.de
Office: Freising, Germany