Architecture [DIA] (M.A.)

You're cordially invited to visit our DIA Final Presentations.
Second-Year Studios will present their thesis projects from Wednesday the 8th until Friday the 10th of July, and First-Year Studios will present their final projects between Wednesday the 15th and Thursday the 16th of July.

Place:
Studios in Building 08.
Building 03 - Rooms 103 and 106
Building 02 - Room 205

Time:
Starting at 10:00 am.

We've extended our application deadline for the Winter Semester 2026 until June 15th. 
Apply now! 

You need some guidance with your application process? 
Contact us: dia@hs-anhalt.de

Join us for Perspectives: Alumni Talks, an annual event that connects Hochschule Anhalt alumni and students, creating a space for inspiring conversations, shared experiences, and valuable insights.

This year, our guests are DIA graduates Petar Petricevic, Yolandé Gouws, and Johan Rey. They will offer insights into their career paths, sharing details about their daily work, working methods, and exciting projects.

Petar Petricevic is a Brussels-based architect collaborating with diverse entities within the city’s established creative network.
Alongside his ongoing collaboration with 51N4E since 2017, he established his own practice, “Penduloop”, in 2025, focusing on the design of physical and digital environments and the interaction between the two. At 51N4E, he is mainly focused on the projects within the Open Public Structures programme.

Yolandé Gouws is a Barcelona and Berlin-based South African artist.
Trained as an architect, she has developed artworks, installations, exhibitions, and spatial concepts in close collaboration with internationally recognised artists, designers, and institutions before establishing her own textile-based practice. 

Johan Rey, M.A. Architect born in Bogotá in 1989, is an architect whose practice bridges design, education, and sustainable urban futures. He studied architecture at the National University of Colombia (2013), continued his academic development at the Universidad de Buenos Aires in Argentina, and later completed a Master of Arts in Architecture at the Dessau Institute of Architecture (DIA) in Germany (2019). His professional trajectory spans more than a decade between Bogotá and Berlin, with roles ranging from co-founder of the architecture practice Rizoma Arquitectura in Bogotá, to architect positions in renowned Berlin offices such as Ortner & Ortner Baukunst. Since 2022, he has co-led assemble.berlin, a collaborative initiative that develops architecture and urbanism workshops for children—particularly those with migration backgrounds.

The lecture will be held in English.
It starts at 6.30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall of Building 08.

Date: May 27th, 2026.
Time: 6.30 p.m.
Place: Lecture Hall of Building 08.

Photo 1: Petar Petricevic
Photo 2: _694 THz (ultramarine loom)_, 2020, photo by Barbara Cilliers 
Photo 3: Lisa Vlasenko
 

Clemens Waldhart is an architect, researcher, and lecturer specializing in sustainable building practices and materials-oriented research. He studied at Graz University of Technology and the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin) and has been teaching at universities since 2017, including at Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin), and EPFL Lausanne.

He is currently pursuing his doctorate at the Chair of Anupama Kundoo at Graz University of Technology. Professionally, he worked as a sustainability and BIM coordinator at AFF Architects in Lausanne and completed his training as a sustainable building coordinator according to the German Sustainable Building Council (BNB) guidelines in 2019.

Together with Martin Fröhlich, he founded the research lab AFFECT, which emerged from AFF Lausanne and focuses on responsible construction practices in architecture and building.

The lecture will be held in German and translated into English.
It starts at 6.30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall of Building 08.

Date: April 22nd, 2026.
Time: 6.30 p.m.
Place: Lecture Hall of Building 08.

Catharina Förster studied architecture and sculpture at the HfbK Hamburg and the UdK Berlin. She worked for Weinmiller Grossmann Architects and Zanderroth Architects in Berlin, among others, and was a research assistant at Leibniz University Hannover in the Department of Design and Building Science, Prof. Hilde Léon. Since 2006, Catharina Förster has been realizing competitions and projects as a freelance architect and has worked on art in architecture projects together with the artist Jeppe Hein. In 2022 she became a partner in the Reichwald Schultz office and partner in Berlin. In 2024 he was appointed to the BDA Berlin.

Since 2023, she has held the position of substitute professor for interior planning and design at the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences on the Dessau campus and was appointed to this position for the winter semester of 2025/26.

The lecture will be held in German and translated into English.
It starts at 6.30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall of Building 08.

Date: April 15th, 2026.
Time: 6.30 p.m.
Place: Lecture Hall of Building 08.

Further events in Summer Semester 2026, “Desire and Reality”:

April 22 Clemens Waldhart + Anupama Kundoo Architects/ Material Matters

April 29 N.N.

May 13 Sofia Ceylan/ TOMAS

May 20 Steffen Klotz + Aylin Akyildiz/ Living realities of children and young people 

May 27 Alumni Talks

June 04 Duplex Architekten, Hamburg

June 10 Dagmar Pelger/ coopdisco

June 17 AK Saxony-Anhalt + Exhibition opening Architecture Prize ´25

June 24 Tina Krause/ Kawahara Krause Architects 

July 01 Gunnar Schulz-Lehnfeld/ Inaugural lecture

A renowned program, located right next to the world-famous Bauhaus Dessau, influenced by its vivid history, and always driven by innovation, the Master's Program at DIA is aimed at architects who are interested in strengthening their knowledge in design expertise and methodology, are curious about the analysis of current questions related to culture, social sciences and the humanities, and want to explore the latest insights into research and development, new procedures, technologies and materials.

Our application process for the Winter Semester 2026 is open from December 15th, 2025, until May 31st, 2026.

For further information, visit https://www.hs-anhalt.de/studiengaenge/mad/applytodia.html

You're cordially invited to visit our DIA Midterm Presentations.
Thesis Studios will present from Wednesday the 14th of May until Friday the 16th of May, and 1st-Year Studios will present on May 21st to 22nd.

Place:
Studios in Building 08.
Building 03 - Rooms 103 and 106
Building 02 - Room 205

Time:
Starting at 10:00 am.

The Master's Program at DIA is aimed to architects who are interested in strengthening their knowledge in design expertise and methodology, are curious about the analysis of current questions related to culture, social sciences and the humanities, and want to explore the latest insights into research and development, new procedures, technologies and materials. A renowned program, located right next to the world-famous Bauhaus Dessau, influenced by its vivid history, and always driven by innovation.

Our application process for Winter Semester 2025 is open between December 15th, 2024 and May 31st, 2025.

For further information, visit https://www.hs-anhalt.de/studiengaenge/mad/applytodia.html

The winners of the Lars-Lerup (1st Year) and Robert-Oxman (Best Thesis) Awards were announced during the graduation ceremony at the Bauhaus Auditorium on July 12th.
This year's winners are:

Lars-Lerup Award: (1st-Year)
    Fernanda de Barros Dihl - “Vertical Farming: Food Production in an Urban Context”
    Chew Jia Hui (Yun) - “51.470984 11.997875”
    Yie Shien Wong - “Nature Living”
   
Robert-Oxman Award: (Best Thesis)
    WinShen Tay - “Urban Rematerialization: Reimagining a Circular Metabolism of Materiality”
    Yuna Igari - “ｅｐｈｅｍｅｒａｌ”
    Syed Razif - “Common---salism (ACT II): City Hybrid at the Urania”
    Shaqir Shaqiri - "Resilient Revival : Transforming Karstad into a Vibrant Urban Nexus for Berlin, Wedding"

Congratulations to all of them!

On the 12th of July, we celebrated our annual DIA graduation ceremony.

More than 70 students from 6 Master Studios graduated at the Bauhaus Aula, where we also enjoyed amazing music by the Colombian band “Cumbia Cachaca” and presented the DIA Awards 2024.

We had special speeches by Prof. Nele Zareh, Director of DIA, and Prof. Stephan Pinkau, Dean of the Architecture Faculty. Our guest speaker was DIA's Alumni and Studio Master, Bilyana Asenova, who's recently been appointed Professor for Building Theory and Design at the Architecture Faculty in Hochschule Anhalt.

Thanks to our photographer, Fardis Zare.

Congratulation to all graduates!!!

In 2012, the membrane that every summer adorns the “pool” at Seminarplatz, was designed, manufactured and sponsored by Harry Buskes, a lecturer from the Membrane Structures Master's programme, which belongs to the IMS BAUHAUS® Archineer® Institutes. As an associated institute, this international master's program was offered from 2006 until 2019 at Hochschule Anhalt.

This summer, for the 10th time, the membrane was once again installed at Seminarplatz, becoming a space for meeting with friends, an alternate Mensa-dinning room during the sunny days and, as on every CampusFest, a place for celebration and dance.

We would like to thank the DIA student group that worked on its installation under the direction of Henning Dürr: Erin, Sylvester, Dom, WinShen, Rouzbeh, Zurab, Osmann and Marc (from the Bachelor in Architecture). Heike Kleine (from DIA), Sagar Vanapalli and Julia Krüger (both from the Architecture Department at Hochschule Anhalt) also participated in the installation.

Thanks to their active support in setting it up, the membrane once again adorns our Campus.

On Wednesday, June 5th, 2024, four Second-Year students from Studio Eric Helter received a special opportunity to present their vision on the theme “Architecture Meets Art: A Sustainable Vision” in the sculpture park. In an absolutely extraordinary atmosphere, surrounded by the works of renowned artists, they were able to showcase their creative ideas and concepts.

Renowned artist Tony Cragg, along with Sculpture Park Manager Michael Mader, opened the doors of his sculpture park in Wuppertal, offering architecture students from DIA under the guidance of Eric Helter a unique opportunity to design an innovative artist's house. This art factory is intended to provide creative spaces and comfortable accommodations for artists of all disciplines, while allowing guests to experience the artistic process up close. The art factory will place a special focus on sustainability, developing solutions for artists and visitors with different abilities. The works created in the art factory will be exhibited in temporary pavilions in the sculpture park, which also serve as retreats. DIA students are invited to design the art factory, pavilions, and their own artworks. The use of modern technologies and materials is explicitly welcomed to create a sustainable and inspiring connection between art, architecture, and nature.

Students from the Elective Module (SuSe24) “The Wall as Intermediate Space - Context, Construction, Cultures and Customs” with Prof. Zareh visited the exhibition “All Hands On: Basketry” at the Museum Europäischer Kulturen in Berlin.

The exhibition focuses on the fascinating skill of basketry, and reveals the interconnections between historically evolved knowledge and modern innovations. The exhibition’s four sections – People, Protection, Material and Patterns – offer visitors the chance to discover numerous woven everyday objects from across Europe.

During this excursion, they were accompanied by the conceptual artist Olaf Holzapfel, whose walk-in sculptural installation offers additional perspectives on the artisanal tradition.

For more information about the exhibition, visit https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/museum-europaeischer-kulturen/exhibitions/detail/all-hands-on-basketry/

During the excursion's week (April 22nd-26th, 2024), 1st-Year students from the Studio “Design a LifeLab Library: Chances and Opportunities” with Huong Vu, went to Helsinki, Finland, where they visited, among other places:

• Helsinki Central Library Oodi (ALA Architects, 2018)
• Helsinki University Library (Anttinen Oiva Architects, 2010)
• Dipoli Student Building (Reima and Raili Pietilä, 1966)
• Aalto University (Aalto, 1975)
• Temppeliaukio Church (Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen, 1969)
• Kamppi Chapel (K2S architects, 2012)
• Otaniemi Chapel (Kaija Siren, Heikki Siren, 1957)
• Helsinki Music Centre (Marko Kivistö, Ola Laiho and Mikko Pulkkinen, 2011)

About the excursion, Huong says: “Daily we walked at least 16km with 21.000 steps, it was hard but effective”.

Our Faculty celebrated its annual Christmas party, and it was a huge success.

Thanks to all the people who attended, participated, enjoyed and supported their friends and colleagues during the event. This is what makes us a strong community.

Special thanks to Erin, WinShen, Dom, Yuna, Sylvester, Tang, Joyce, Nabil and Azizeh for their delicious food, and to Mert Aydın, Mert Yavaş, Alexandr, Avneet and their teachers Torsten Blume, Matthias Lipeck and Mikhail Lylov for their performance “Becoming Polytop”.

DIA students Melis Altuntaş and Mert Yavaş won the 1st Prize at the Canadian Academy of Judicial Architecture's (CAAJ) Student Design Competition 2023 / A New Frontier: The Contemporary Border Crossing with their project “POROUS BORDER” - An In-between Space Between Syria and Turkey

    Studio: The Border Crossing as a Space Between
    Studio Teacher: Florentine-Amelie Rost

The Nusaybin - Qamishli border, located between Turkey and Syria, has been used very often over the years between both cities. Due to the civil war that broke out in Syria in 2011, the old border gate was closed shortly after. Then the two cities, which used to be a whole together, lost their visual relationship with each other with this impermeable wall. Therefore, people started to need a common place where they could come together and trade.

The wall, which is the strongest element in the context, separates the two countries with sharp borders. In this case, the wall is made porous in two perspectives. First of all, the wall was dissolved as pores in order to maintain the visual relationship but also to maintain the concept of boundary. Then, the rigid wall, which is the separating element, transforms within itself and becomes the shell roof that gathers people together. In this in-between space, the market area, activity areas, restaurant and children's activity areas, which bring families together, are built under the ground with trench. Thus, the boundary on the ground floor remained porous and the visual relationship between the two cities was preserved. Nusaybin and Qamishli are in an area where adobe houses are widely built. The texture of traditional adobe houses was continued in the design with rammed earth material, ensuring harmony with the context.

In their comments, the jury of the competition defined this project as "an exceptionally strong proposal that addresses the border crossing challenge at a number of levels. It has a strong overall architectural concept that marks the crossing point in an otherwise hardened border through a simple but evocative move. (…) a strong proposal in both concept and execution, well-grounded in the specific location"

Also in this competition, DIA student Winnie Tay Chyi Ying won the honourable mention with her project "In-Between Space as Third Place (Indonesia and Malaysia)".  About this project, the jury commented: "The jury particularly appreciated the concept sketch to convey the emotions of crossing a border, as it clearly evokes the anxiety that is often felt and demonstrates an understanding of the emotional impacts border spaces can have."

You can find more information about the winning project here. You can also visit the official website of the contest here.

On July 14th we held our traditional graduation ceremony at the Bauhaus Aula. Our guest speaker was Erasmus Eller from Eller+Eller Architects, we announced the winners of the Lars-Lerup and Robert-Oxman Awards, and enjoyed a concert by the band Täpe. Congratulations to all graduates!

The winners of the Lars-Lerup (1st Year) and Robert-Oxman Awards (Thesis) were announced during the graduation ceremony at the Bauhaus Auditorium on July 14th.
This year's winners are:

Lars-Lerup Award:
    Joy Ann Lim Ee Hsien - “One Roof Library”
    Mert Aydin - “Open Academy”
    Mina Markovic - “The Copper Armor”

Robert-Oxman Award:
    Hardik Jain - “Tomorrow Comes Today”
    Amr Salah Abdelghani Aboeleinein - “Zeitz as a Carbon Sink”
    Ayeza Zahid - “Latent Habitats”

Congratulations to all of them!

You may watch the videos of the winners and nominated projects at the following links:
Lars Lerup: https://vimeo.com/showcase/10499318
Robert Oxman: https://vimeo.com/showcase/10494773

On July 5th, 2023, we celebrated the opening of the international photography exhibition “Welcome Home, Welcome Home”, organised by our own students.

In this exhibition, five students from five different countries, explore the meaning of "Home and the distance to it. The lack of what we’ve once felt as “home” has an amazing ability to resurface our long-lost momentary responses. The momentary responses that made us feel like something was a home." (From the curatorial text)

Participants:

• Elena Maldonado Suárez (Spain - COOP)
• Mohammad Abu-Khadra (Jordan - DIA)
• Siavash Nejadahad Anzabi (Iran - DIA)
• Mert Aydin (Turkey - DIA)
• Mina Markovic (Serbia - DIA)

The exhibition will be open until the 13th of July 2023, from 12:00-18:00.
Place: ExpoWurm (In front of building 8, Campus Dessau)

The exhibition was made possible by support from DIA and the International Office of Hochschule Anhalt.

Four DIA students from Malaysia, Lee Jia Yee, Erin Kong Shue Men, Sylvester Ying Ch'ng, and Win Shen Tay, won an award at BAU 2023 in Munich, Germany's largest construction trade fair. Traditionally, the Bundesvereinigung Altbauerneuerung e.V. (BAKA) (Federal Association for the Renovation of Old Buildings) holds a public event during the fair to present and judge the student competition “Students | Design | Future”, which is held under the patronage of the Minister of Building and Urban Affairs, Ms Clara Geywitz.

After a pre-selection by the BAKA, ten teams from universities and colleges from all over Germany presented term papers that were particularly oriented towards aspects of climate protection and sustainability. Among them was the team from Dessau which, introduced by Prof. Nadja Häupl, presented its contribution entitled “A productive neighbourhood - revitalisation of the slaughterhouse area in Halle (Saale)”. The top-class jury of experts found it the most convincing and awarded it first prize in this renowned competition.

In Prof. Ralf Niebergall’s Studio, the students dealt with the slaughterhouse site in the east of Halle, which had been derelict for a long time. The focus was on preserving the beautiful industrial architecture of the listed buildings from the 19th century, which are to be revived with innovative concepts for a sustainable circular economy.

Congratulations to our students for this important award.

Congratulations to Dmytro Krasnyi for receiving a recognition of this year's Konrad Wachsman Award for his project: Ukrainian Timber Pavilion.

Congratulations to all this year's Robert Oxman Award Winners

1st prize

Dmytro Krasnyi

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/726347890

2nd prize

Abrar E. Masum

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/726348245

3rd prize

Susan Linnet Lauterbach Slesarchik

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/726348136

Honorable mention

Tefilla Pealfu

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/726348920

Congratulations to all DIA Graduates 2022.

Our first year DIA student Dishant Upendra Soni got elected to the University Senat and the Faculty Council.

We congratulate him and wish him an exciting time when representing the voice of international students at Anhalt University.

1st Prize

Ghazy, Hossam

Project: Emancipated [In]formality

https://vimeo.com/diadessau/review/568884400/6d32bac22b?sort=lastUserActionEventDate&direction=desc

2nd Prize

Tristan Bergmoser

Project: Concrete Dreams

https://vimeo.com/diadessau/review/570612572/c526201f17?sort=lastUserActionEventDate&direction=desc

3rd Prize

Seshiena Lotsu 

Project: The Ungated Community

https://vimeo.com/diadessau/review/570614457/b56de3b089?sort=lastUserActionEventDate&direction=desc

Honorable Mention

Anam Tariq

Project: Coming to Terms with Absurdity

https://vimeo.com/diadessau/review/570612232/114dd8b1ce?sort=lastUserActionEventDate&direction=desc

Thank you to the jury members:

Nadja Häupl (head of jury), Like Bijlsma, Christoph Kohl, Amelie Rost, Fredrik Skatar

1st prize

Andrii Shcherbina 

Project: Robotron

https://vimeo.com/diadessau/review/573001266/19c7619b71?sort=lastUserActionEventDate&direction=desc

2nd prize

Ana María González Duplat

Project: Wondering Cape

https://vimeo.com/diadessau/review/573001552/832ea3443c?sort=lastUserActionEventDate&direction=desc

3rd prize

Vesë Ademaj

Project: The Reimagined Pattern

https://vimeo.com/diadessau/review/572532640/a162e50183?sort=lastUserActionEventDate&direction=desc

Thank you to the jury members:

Ralf Niebergall (head of jury), Jean-Marie Beslou, Roger Bundschuh, Peter Ruge, Nele Vesta Zareh

The students were happy to receive their diplomas in on the stage of the historic Bauhaus. ©Fotos: Mauricio Sosa-Norena

Congratulations to all DIA graduates 2021. We want to thank Kim Kyung-Ae for her motivating speech. Also thanks to Nurin Abdullah & Riddhi Kumar for their charming student speech. ©Fotos: Mauricio Sosa-Norena