Team
Clemens Winkler
Research Fellow, Subject Area Interaction Design
Clemens´ work is focusing on articulation and mediation techniques mostly by creating or re-excavating material-based languages. Besides his own studio practice, he joined the Interaction Design team and the Enactive Environment research group in 2013 at the University of the Arts, Zurich, and since then he has been working as a research associate and lecturer at ZHdK. He is also tutoring and guest teaching in the Material Futures Department, Central Saint Martins, London. Prior to that, he studied at the MIT Media Labs, Boston and graduated in Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art, London.
Maike Thies
Research Fellow, Subject Area Game Design
Maike Thies is a Research Fellow at the Bachelor Specialisation of the Subject Area Game Design. Among other things she is responsible for communications & public relations, events, workshops and exhibitions. She curates and coordinates the interdisciplinary lecture series Kein Kino at the Toni Kino. Her research activities focus on interactive theatre, narrative spaces and installations (Dramaturgy, Screenplay/Script). Since 2017 she leads the conference «Expanding Immersive Design» at Zurich University of the Arts.
She studied Media Studies and German Literature at the University of Trier, Germany, and graduated in October 2010. In her master thesis she discussed and revealed contemporary tendencies in the field of animated documentaries. During an exchange year (2008/2009) she studied at the Department of Film Studies at the University of Zurich.
Larissa Holaschke
Research Fellow, Subject Area Trends & Identity
Larissa Holaschke is teaching assistant at the Master of Design specialisation «Trends» and research assistant in the field of «Trends & Identity», Department Of Design (ZHdK). She studied journalism and communication sciences, political science and philosophy and completed her Master of Design in the specialisation «Event» at the ZHdK. Her thesis «Lipstick Tehran» dealt with the material protest culture of women in Iran, for which she was awarded the Gender Studies Prize ZFH. She deals with issues of identity, design and politics.
Patrik Ferrarelli
Assistant & Lecturer, Subject Area Visual Communication
Patrik Ferrarelli studied Visual Communication at Zurich University of the Arts. Prior to that, he worked at the Institute of Virtual Manufacturing at ETH Zurich under Prof. Dr. Josef Reissner, where he was responsible for the concept and design of a multi-media lecture consisting of ten dissertations. Alongside his studies, he worked at Minddesign in London, carrying out projects in visual identity, amongst other things.
After graduating, Patrik Ferrarelli founded the Studio Visuelle Gestaltung which takes on design and consulting work in the commercial, institutional and cultural sector. As co-ordination and teaching assistant for the Master of Arts programme in Design, Visual Communication (ZHdK), he has organisational responsibilities but also teaches workshops with a focus on interdisciplinary and explorative design. In 2016, he received the award «Die 100 besten Plakate DE AUT CH» (The 100 Best Posters Germany, Austria, Switzerland) for one of his workshop posters.
Stephan Wespi
Event Manager, Bachelor Design
Anna Lisa Martin–Niedecken
Senior Researcher, Subject Area Game Design
Anna Lisa Martin-Niedecken is Senior Researcher in the Subject Area Game Design, Zurich University of the Arts, as well as founder and CEO of the fitness gaming startup Sphery Ltd. Anna has a sports scientific background and has been working in the field of game design since 2010. Since then, she has combined both fields of expertise in numerous interdisciplinary projects. Her R&D work focuses on exergames, games for health, body-centred computing and human-computer-interaction.
Flurina Gradin
Research Fellow, Bachelor Design
Flurina Gradin is a designer and ecologist who focuses on the promotion of biodiversity and the role of nature in the urban space. Since 2014 she has been a resarch associate at the ZHdK. She is responsible for different teaching formats in the areas of ecology and sustainability as part of the university’s Bachelor of Design programme.
Helen Galliker
BA Graduate Student, Subject Area Game Design
Helen Galliker studied Game Design at the Zurich University of the Arts where she created her experimental game Monocular, which has been shown at various exhibitions. The focus of her work lies in creating experiences that combine the possibilities of games, art and design.
Caroline Feder
Assistant, Subject Area Cast/Audiovisual Media
Caroline Feder is a teaching assistant in the faculty of Cast/Audiovisual Media at the Zurich University of the Arts and freelance Video Editor for Swiss Television. After studying photography in Vevey, Switzerland, she graduated from the Zurich University of the Arts with a BA degree in film. Since then she has gained professional experience in various fields of film production including development, production assistance and post production. Among others, she worked as an associate producer for both the advertising company &Söhne and the interactive cinema tech-startup CtrlMovie.
Stephanie Grubenmann
Research Fellow, Subject Area Cast/Audiovisual Media
Stephanie Grubenmann is a senior researcher and lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts and at the University of St. Gallen. Her research and design deals with non-fictional, digital and mobile storytelling. She is further interested in innovation in the field of journalism. In 2016 she founded the start-up New Babylon Creations with two colleagues. New Babylon Creations explores the potential of new technologies to provide new forms of access to culture. In 2016 they launched the BUX app, a digital city guide based on literature. In an upcoming project, they are creating a VR experience to explore the consequences of the Protestant Reformation.
Aleksandra Szewc
Assistant, Subject Area Industrial Design
Aleksandra Szewc is a polish product designer based in Zurich, Switzerland. After finishing her bachelor studies in Industrial Design at Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, working as UI and UX Designer and graduating ECAL in Lausanne, she decided to work as a Teaching Assistant at Zurich University of the Arts. Her areas of interests are textile design, outdoor design and service design. As a product designer she looks for the very essence of designing objects and she believes that simplicity is a goal of our current culture.
Marco Bach
Assistant, Subject Area Game Design
Marco Bach is a Swiss-born creative, based in Zurich, Switzerland. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in product and industrial design with a specialisation in game design from Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK. He further received a diploma for digital film and 3D animation from SAE Zurich. Since 2011 he has been working for a range of high-end clients in the Swiss creative industry, such as SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen and Hinderling Volkart. In the meantime he has also carried out a variety of design projects with many clients as a freelance graphic and motion designer. Marco works as a creative assistant for the game design department of Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK. He co-founded The Collective, where he is furthermore working on an iPad game called amii. In addition to his commitments at ZHdK he is also working for SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen.
Alessandro Holler
Alessandro Holler (Research Fellow, Subject Area Knowledge Visualisation, ZHdK)