Manuel Herz is an architect based in Cologne and Basel. He is head of research and teaching at the ETH Studio Basel, Contemporary City Institute, and teaching at Harvard University, Graduate School of Design. He studied at the RWTH Aachen and the Architectural Association, London and taught design studios at the Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan Stockholm, the Bartlett School of Architecture London and the Berlage Institute, Rotterdam. He has executed a number of architectural projects in Germany and Israel, among them the Municipal Museum of Ashdod, with Eyal Weizman and Rafi Segal, a conversion of an historical industrial complex into exhibition spaces in Cologne and the project “Legal / Illegal”, a mixed-use building which received the ‘German architecture prize – concrete’ and was exhibited at the Biennale of Architecture in Venice 2004. His current projects include the Jewish Community Center in Mainz.
Manuel has published internationally on issues regarding the relationship between Judaism and space, and is currently working on the theme of refugee camps, their planning strategies, and the dilemmas of humanitarian aid. He is currently working on his PhD at Goldsmisths Center for Architectural Research, London.