Dr. Sonja Beeck studied architecture at the RWTH Aachen. After 8 years of practice in architectural offices in Cologne and London, she went to New York, Las Vegas and Walt Disney Corp. to research for her PHD: „Theming _a method for semantic programming of space”, which she finished in 2003 at the University of Karlsruhe and at the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation. As a member of the academic staff of the Bauhaus from 2000 to 2010, she worked there for the long term laboratory IBA STADTUMBAU 2010 and was responsible for the project development and managed many projects inventing new spatial development strategies for regions with shrinking population. Besides she has been teaching „Stadt und Landschaft“ at the University of Innsbruck from 2006 to 2008. After the final exhibition of IBA STADTUMBAU 2010, Sonja Beeck is now teaching “Urban development and management in the international context” at the University of Kassel und works as a consultant for the local authorities in Berlin to prepare new IBA for Berlin 2020.