Alison and Ania

Alison and Ania are two independent architects based in Rotterdam who one day joined forces to make an exhibition about death. Day to day they run their own practices that combine research, art and architecture. Alison is the founder of Killing Architects, a studio for design and research in architecture and urbanism, based in Rotterdam. The studio works mostly at a bigger scale – architectural design work on larger, mixed-use buildings or developing strategies for neighbourhoods and cities, as well as research, events, films and exhibitions that explore issues within the built environment. Everything happens somewhere and while the built environment is shaped by its social, economic and political context, the reverse is also to an extent true – the way we shape our cities and buildings influences what happens in them. Killing Architects is good at working across disciplines, with groups who don’t have a built environment background, bringing an architectural and urbanist perspective to projects where the built environment is important. www.killingarchitects.com Ania works as an architecture curator and researcher focusing on the socio-cultural aspects of the spatial practice. She is interested in exploring ways in which architecture and urban planning can be cross-fertilized with other disciplines to offer novel perspectives for the culture of the city; and especially in the role aspects of openness and communication play in the spatial, cultural and technological realms. She has also recently started a new publishing platform called the Amateur Cities, which aims to bring together the city makers and thinkers in order to provide both sides with new insight on the new urban processes.