Bauhaus Earth Fellowship Program

About BE-FELLOW

The Bauhaus Earth Fellowship Programme (BE-FELLOW) offers emerging talents the opportunity to expand existing knowledge and advance practices for a sustainable architecture of the future. The diverse fellowship projects test new modes of practice, engagement, and knowledge in relation to shifting natural and disciplinary boundaries across different geographies and contexts. Bauhaus Earth and Experimental provide critical support at key points in the projects or practices developed within the framework of the fellowship.

Through projects that combine technical aspects with spatial and aesthetic qualities of the built environment, BE-FELLOW identifies new, powerful architectural languages for a sustainable built environment. The programme provides fellows with the necessary financial freedom, professional mentorship, network, and environment to pursue their promising ideas and experimental design approaches. Each project brings together a unique constellation of emerging actors, material manufacturers, builders, planners, researchers, project-specific partners, experts, students, and local stakeholders. Together, they produce new knowledge on regional, regenerative, and circular building, bridging the gap between institutional research and building practice.

BE-FELLOW is a collaboration between the non-profit organisations Bauhaus Earth and Experimental.

Bauhaus Earth is a think-and-make-tank composed of a team of researchers and experimenters from the fields of theoretical and applied science, engineering, architecture, art, design, construction, and building technology. In the BE-FELLOW programme, the interdisciplinary team from Bauhaus Earth provides key mentorship and collaboration for each unique project. In addition, Bauhaus Earth provides the fellows with space and technical expertise in our Marienpark LAB, a 600 sqm workshop and exhibition space for the experimentation with and production of prototypes using bio-based and circular materials. Read more about the Bauhaus Earth Marienpark LAB.

Experimental is a Berlin-based non-profit organisation founded by the architect Prof. Regine Leibinger in 2022. It fosters projects that chart new territory in the field of architecture to change how and with what we build. It offers emerging talents financial and organisational support, giving them space to experience the joy of experimentation and to raise unconventional questions and project ideas. Experimental is currently further developing the fellowship programme to include new formats such as publications, exhibitions, and symposia. It is also developing new collaborations and networks.

Fellows & Projects

BE-FELLOW welcomes a broad spectrum of emerging international practitioners in the fields of architecture, design, engineering, art, and cross-disciplinary constellations of architectural production. Successful fellows will have demonstrated a specific and relevant individual expertise.

The projects supported by the fellowship programme build on clear research questions. They typically target the production of architectural fragments of a scale manageable within the framework of the fellowship. These prototypes serve as tangible, measurable examples of new ways of building. The projects should aim for longevity and real-world application.

Fellowship projects are designed for a duration of 6 to 8 months and are intended to be open-ended and collaborative. They are developed and implemented in cooperation with the BE-FELLOW team and further project-specific partners in an open research environment. We encourage fellows to spend as much time as possible in Berlin to make active use of both the LAB at Marienpark and the resources provided by the various Bauhaus Earth initiatives and our extensive network of experts and partners. The fellows’ presence in Berlin and Brandenburg is linked to exhibitions, lectures, symposia, seminars, and debates.

Want to learn more? – Relevant Press and Events

> SEE IT NOW: Material Cultures Paludiculture Fragment @ Kreis statt Krise, Berlin, March 1 – July 4, 2024

> LISTEN: Matthias Ballestrem @ Vers une architecture, JUNG Architekturgespräche

> READ: “Playing Fair in the Pursuit of Sustainable Design”, koozArch

Funding & Support

The BE-FELLOW programme includes financial support covering a monthly stipend, expenses, and project costs. Project-related expenses and production costs are covered up to a total of €30,000. A specific budget should be provided by each applicant covering eligible, essential production costs foreseen for the successful completion of the fellowship project. Rosa Hanhausen, Alexine Sammut, and Chrissie Muhr – the BE-FELLOW team – will support the project through active and mutual collaboration and organisational assistance. For the fellows, Bauhaus Earth serves as an interdisciplinary environment and platform for mutual learning. During the time spent in Berlin, fellows have free access to the LAB and office space at Marienpark, including a workshop with technical support. Based on the specific focus of the fellows’ projects, we will arrange a knowledge exchange with ongoing Bauhaus Earth projects and our growing network of experts and partners.

Fellowship project developments and results will be published on the Bauhaus Earth and Experimental channels. Further conferences, lectures, and publications will provide opportunities to share this knowledge, thus contributing to discourse and practice. BE-FELLOW draws on engaging, long-term networks and nurtures active relationships with our fellows and alumni.

Current and Past Fellows

Since its beginning in 2022, the programme has awarded four fellowships across three funding rounds.

Kevin Kimwelle
90% plus
Kevin’s project investigates the use of reused and recycled materials in the built environment. The fellowship will revisit, document and further advance building materials, methods, and components developed for several award-winning alternative design and construction projects in South Africa.
> More here.

Heidi Jalkh & Angie Dub
From Mono-Material to Multi-Performance
Angie and Heidi focus on the further development of their bioceramic material, produced at ambient temperature from waste from the shellfish and food industry.
> More here.

Baukreisel e.V.
concrete.matters – primary structure laboratory
This project critically investigates deconstruction, waste, and the reuse of structural concrete building elements through the lens of the deconstruction of a former Max Planck Institute high-rise building in Dortmund.
> More here.

Material Cultures
Constructive Land Berlin/Brandenburg
This project explored the potential of rewetting peatlands in Brandenburg for the production of regional bio-based building materials. The results were an architectural prototype displaying the use of paludiculture materials and a research report in German and English.
> More here.

Open Call 2024

Our 3rd Open Call cycle closed on 1 July. We would like to thank all the applicants for their meaningful and engaged submissions and ideas. We were excited to receive 120 applications from 37 different countries!

Fellowship recipients will be selected by the BE-FELLOW Jury based on submitted applications. Successful applicants will be notified by September 2024.

Jury

The BE-FELLOW jury selects the fellows. To ensure impartiality, the majority of the jury consists of external, highly distinguished experts.

Prof. Florian Nagler
Professor of Architectural Design and Construction, TU München; Florian Nagler Architekten, Munich

Prof. Anna Ramos
Adjunct Professor of Architectural Technology, ETSAB – UPC; Director Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona

Prof. Christiane Sauer
Professor of Material Design, Weißensee Kunsthochschule, Berlin

Karen Stein
Independent Critic and Architectural Advisor, New York

Prof. Jan de Vylder
ETH Zürich Department Architektur, Chair for Architecture and Design; Architecten Jan De Vylder Inge Vinck A JDVIV, Ghent/Brussels

Prof. Dr. Jan Wurm
Professor of Regenerative Design and Biofabrication in Architecture, KU Leuven; EU Engagement and Venturing Lead Europe, Arup, Brussels

Prof. Regine Leibinger
Barkow Leibinger; Founder & Director, Experimental, Berlin

Prof. Dr. Philipp Misselwitz
Executive Director, Bauhaus Earth, Berlin

Chrissie Muhr
Programme Chair BE-FELLOW; Co-Managing Director & Artistic Director, Experimental, Berlin

Contact

BE-FELLOW is led by Chrissie Muhr, Co-Managing and Artistic Director of Experimental, together with the Program Co-Managers Rosa Hanhausen and Alexine Sammut at Bauhaus Earth. For further inquiries, please contact be-fellow@bauhauserde.org.