reSITE has released new exclusive videos within the scope of reSITE Small Talks Series with new speakers! Martin Rein-Cano, Director of Topotek 1, Berlin, Germany and Joana Dabaj & Riccardo Conti, Co-founders of Catalytic Action, London, are the new guests of reSITE Exclusive Interview Series this week. reSITE released 'Small Talks' series earlier last month and started with Michael Kimmelman and Martin Barry interviews. This exclusive small talk series feature global thought leaders and architects on architecture, culture and cities. 

reSITE hosted a prestigious event in June with the theme of 'Cities in Migration' and hosted dozens of experts and keynote speakers through its diverse conference program as well as a variety of side events for the general public – salon discussions, workshops, a bike ride, and a party. All took place alongside a 2-day international conference. World Architecture Community was Media Partner for the event and tested the pulse of the reSITE throughout the event as LIVE, which was featured on World Architecture Community's Urban Development page.

reSITE, in collaboration with Canal 180, introduces very short interviews packed with inspiration and good vibe and reSITE shares global experts’ network knowledge, ideas and stories with all city lovers and city makers.

Video by Canal 180

Martin Rein-Cano was born in Buenos Aires in 1967 and currently lives in Germany. He studied Art History at Frankfurt University and Landscape Architecture at the Technical Universities of Hannover and Karlsruhe. He trained in the office of Peter Walker and Martha Schwartz in San Francisco. In 1996 he founded TOPOTEK 1, which partakes in a wide variety of international projects and has been awarded the first prize in various competitions. Several professional books and articles have been published exclusively on his work, which has been honored with many awards. 

Most recently, Rein-Cano has won the 2016 Aga Khan Award For Architecture with Superkilen project in collaboration with BIG and Superflex. Rein-Cano presented Superkilen project in reSITE in details and the fascinating design process behind the Superkilen park. 

Additionally, Rein-Cano was given the 1st Prize in the German Landscape Architecture Award in 2015 for the project on the UNESCO World Heritage Site Abbey Lorsch. Martin Rein-Cano has been appointed as a guest professor in different academic institutions in Europe and North America including the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University. Currently he is teaching at the Dessau Institute for Architecture. He frequently lectures at internationally renowned universities and cultural institutions and regularly serves on competition juries.

Video by Canal 180

Joana Dabaj is the co-founder and principal coordinator at Catalytic Action, a not-for-profit design studio based in London. She holds a BSc degree in Architecture from the American University of Beirut and a MSc degree in Building and Urban Design in Development from the University College of London (UCL). She has developed her experience around architecture, sustainable development, cultural heritage, migration and human rights in several countries including Lebanon, United Kingdom, Syria, Iraq, Greece, Cambodia, Brazil, Colombia and Thailand. Her recent projects involves working closely with communities following a “bottom up” design approach tackling specifically the refugee crisis and migration in the Middle East and Europe.

Riccardo is an architect and urban designer, director and co-founder of the not-for-profit design studio Catalytic Action (www.catalyticaction.org). His recent work focuses on tackling the refugee crisis in the Middle East and in Europe through spatial interventions. He has experience in research, design and planning in various countries such as Kenya, Cambodia, Italy, Germany, Poland and the UK. He holds an MSc from University College London (UCL) in Building and Urban Design in Development. In 2012 he co-founded the project “Mathare River” in Nairobi where he also worked as a researcher and field project manager for an international NGO. His design approach has always investigated various people-centered design approaches.

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