Academic Staff

Nick Nowara, M.Sc.

Profile

As a studied architect, with a focus on urban design and building construction, I dealt with topics beyond the classic job description at an early stage. For me, this includes accommodating the homeless, as well as housing victims of disasters, refugees in Germany, Europe and beyond. Last but not least, slums and informal settlements in the so-called global South and North are part of my research.

Regardless of the context, I am interested in the conditions under which people live and how we as planners can help to improve them. After working at architecture and planning offices as well as at an international organization, I now pursue this approach as a member of the IPS research group.

Nick Nowara, profile picture — Nick Nowara (2022)

CV

Academic education:

2015 – 2017: M.Sc. Architecture, University of Kassel, Germany
2011 – 2014: B.Sc. Architecture, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany

Work experience:

Since March 2020: Research assistant, IPS, Department of Spatial Planning, TU Dortmund, Germany
2018 – 2020: Architect, Trucks Architekten, Berlin, Germany
2018: Intern, Sustainable Development of Metropolitan Regions, GIZ, Bonn, Germany
2016 – 2017: Junior architect, BAS Office for Architecture and Urban Design, Kassel, Germany
2015: Junior architect & freelancer, Mosaik Architekten, Hannover, Germany
2014: Junior architect, See Consult, Kumasi and Accra, Ghana

Scholarships & awards:

2018: Nomination, master thesis, Pfeiffer Foundation of Architecture
2017: Nomination, field research in Peru, Lieberum Foundation
2014: Scholarship, field research in Ghana, DAAD

Language skills:

German: Mother tongue
English: Business fluent
Spanish: Competent language use
Russian: Basic knowledge

Research

Research areas:

Informal settlements and slums in the Global South and Global North
Slum-Upgrading Programmes / Good Governance
Refugee-Camp Planning
Urban Development in the Global South
Urban Design & Urban Planning / Rapid Urbanisation

Research projects (at IPS):

Since 2021: Incremental Housing and Housing Co-production in the Barriadas of Lima, Peru (PhD project)

Publications:

Nowara, N. (2019) ‘Slum Upgrading in Nairobi und °349’, in Altrock, U. et al. (eds.) Jahrbuch Stadterneuerung 2017. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. doi: 10.1007/978-3-658-24153-7_7.

Teaching

Thesis supervision:

I am happy to supervise thesis projects on topics such as:

Slums, informal settlements and how we see the world
Refugee camps: The built reality in which people (have to) live.
Poverty, homelessness: How to live with it?
Emergency and disaster management (prevention, mitigation, reconstruction and resilience)

Currently taught courses (WiSe 2023/24):

B.Sc. Spatial Planning: „WIR üben“

Selected past courses:

M.Sc. SPRING: „Programme Planning and Project Management“ (2023)
M.Sc. Spatial Planning: “Development of Human Settlements in Peru” (2022)
B.Sc. Spatial Planning: A03 „Dortmunder Kiosk-Kultur: Der Trinkhalle auf der Spur“ (2020/21)
B.Sc. Spatial Planning: „WIR üben“ (2020/21, 2021/22)
M.Sc. SPRING: “Human Settlement Planning” (2020)