Claudia Westermann is an internationally renowned scholar, artist and architect, licensed with the German Chamber of Architects. She is a managing co-editor of the visual arts journal Technoetic Arts (Scopus Q1) and Vice President of the American Society for Cybernetics (ASC). She has received awards for her practice and teaching, including two provincial and three national awards related to studio teaching and a county-level award for her Philosophy of Art module. Dedicated to interdisciplinary research, she most recently received the 2024 Margaret Mead Prize from the American Society for Cybernetics. 

Holding post-graduate degrees in Architecture and Media Art from the Karlsruhe University of Technology (KIT) and the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG) at the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Germany, respectively, Claudia Westermann obtained a PhD from the Centre for Advanced Inquiry in Integrative Arts (CAiiA), Planetary Collegium, University of Plymouth, UK, for a thesis bridging contemporary interactive art, poetry and critical spatial practice. Her PhD was supervised by the renowned pioneer in telematic art, Prof. Roy Ascott. 

Informed by second-order cybernetics, Claudia Westermann's research actualises in interdisciplinary projects concerned with the ecologies, poetics, technologies and philosophies of art and architectural design. In recent years, Claudia Westermann has increasingly engaged in work that integrates contemporary systemic and traditional Chinese positions. Her works have been widely exhibited and presented, including at the Venice Biennale (Architecture), the Moscow International Film Festival, the ISEA Symposium for the Electronic Arts, and the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Working in theory and practice, Claudia Westermann's portfolio includes built works and edited journal issues, over 50 exhibition participations and 50 academic articles. She is the co-editor of an invited book about women in bio art to be published by Routledge and the editor of a forthcoming special journal issue of the WoS Q1 philosophy journal Constructivist Foundations. She has been the principal investigator for competitive research grants in excess of 1 million CNY and a co-investigator for interactive public art installations funded with 260.000 CNY.

Claudia Westermann has extensive experience in academic leadership. She has held various research-related administrative posts at departmental and university levels and several key administrative roles, including Programme Director of the RIBA Part 1 Bachelor in Architecture and Chair of the Departmental Learning and Teaching Committee in Architecture from 2015 to 2018.

Her website is at https://www.litra-design.com.

Claudia Westermann's research explores the intersections of art, design, and emerging technology, drawing inspiration from second-order cybernetics. She focuses on interdisciplinary investigations into the ecologies, poetics, and philosophies of these fields. In recent years, her work has increasingly bridged contemporary systemic approaches with traditional Chinese perspectives. Key areas of interest include art/science approaches to critical systemic practice, art for communities, digital tools for place-making, and applications of neuroscience methods in spatial and interaction design. Additionally, she engages in theoretical explorations that connect the philosophy of art, science, and technology, seeking to understand their interrelationships and impacts on creative practices.

Claudia Westermann welcomes PhD proposals in her areas of expertise. Limited departmental scholarships are available for outstanding PhD applicants.

EMPLOYMENTS, higher education and practice

Senior Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University - 2016 to Present

Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University - 2012 to 2016

Univ.Ass. postdoc. (Senior Lecturer), Institute of Architecture and Design, Faculty of Architecture, Vienna University of Technology - 2006 to 2010

Architect (in Practice), Rossmann Partner Architekten, Karlsruhe, Germany, 1999-2001

Architectural Assistant, Rossmann Partner Architekten, Karlsruhe, Germany, 1994-1998 (PT)

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LITRA, CEO

Founder, LITRA :: Laboratory for Inhabitable Theories and Research in Architecture, 2001 to present

Professional licensure and registration, German Architects Chamber section Baden-Wuerttemberg, 2001

ARC308 Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics (module leader)

ARC304 Final Year Project (module leader / tutor)

ARC107 History of Western Architecture (co-teacher)

ARC204 Small Urban Buildings (tutor)

ARC407 Architectural Theory and Criticism (module leader)

ARC305 Small and Medium Scale Buildings (tutor)

ARC001 Introduction to Architecture and Visual Culture (tutor)

ARC407 Architectural Theory and Criticism (module leader)

ARC413 Design Studio 3 (tutor)

ARC411 Practice Based Enquiry and Architectural Representation (module leader)

ARC410 Design Studio 4 (tutor)

ARC305 Small and Medium Scale Buildings (module leader / tutor)

ARC205 Design and Building Typology (tutor)

ARC204 Small Urban Buildings (tutor)

ARC105 Small Space Design (module leader)

ARC101 Design Thinking and Articulation (module leader)

ARC001 Introduction to Architecture and Visual Culture (tutor)

Awards by learned societies

06.2024 Margaret Mead Prize of the American Society for Cybernetics, awarded on 15 June 2024 in Washington, DC.

Teaching awards

11.2017 National Award (China), Outstanding Design Brief for Final Year Project studio brief ‘Framing Indeterminacy’ co-authored with Aleksandra Raonic, 2017 National Architectural Education Annual Symposium in Shenzhen, China.

09.2014 SIP Excellent Educator. Award for the ARC308 Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics module from the local Chinese Government, Suzhou Industrial Park, September 2014.

06.2014 Most Innovative Teaching Practice. Winner of XJTLU’s annual university award for excellence in teaching in the category ”Innovative Teaching Practices”, June 2014 for the ARC308 Philosophy of Art module. Nominated by year 4 (level 3) Architecture students in both categories available to academics: Best Teacher, and Most Innovative Teaching Practice.

Awards for student projects, tutor awards and recognitions

08.2023 XJTLU Department of Architecture, Best Vision Award for the Final Year Project (Part 1) ’Reframing the Nearby’ by Liu Shucen. Supervised by Claudia Westermann. Tutor recognition.

08.2023 XJTLU Department of Architecture, Best Model Award for the Final Year Project (Part 1) ’Shuangta Community–Agency Through Play’ by Xie Haitian. Supervised by Claudia Westermann. Tutor recognition.

07.2023 XJTLU Best Final Year Project in Architecture, nominated for the RIBA Bronze Medal by the XJTLU Department of Architecture (Part 1), ’Reframing the Nearby’ by Liu Shucen. Supervised by Claudia Westermann. Tutor recognition.

07.2023 XJTLU Department of Architecture BDP-Farrell prize for Liu Shucen for the bestcombined performance in the semester 1 and semester 2 studios of year 4 in the BEng Architecture (Part 1). Supervised by Claudia Westermann. Tutor recognition.

04.2023 Best Design Award for Liu Shucen’s project ’Decoding the Nearby’ in the XJTLU Design School Student Competition 2023 ’Think Globally, Act Locally.’ Supervised by Claudia Westermann. The project is a response to the ARC305/304 brief, tutored in semester one of AY 2022-23. Liu Shucen’s work was further nominated in the Best Visual and Best Research categories. Award ceremony 16 April 2023.

07.2020 XJTLU Best Final Year Project (Part 1) in Architecture award for the FYP project The Re-Enchantment of Nature in the Post-Anthropocene by Zuo Annan. Supervised by Claudia Westermann. Tutor recognition. Shared first prize. Project nominated for the RIBA Bronze Medal and available from the RIBA President’s Medals website.

05.2018 Second prize in the Jiangsu Province Department of Education Final Year Project Awards for the Final Year Project of Li Shaokang, co-tutored by Claudia Westermann and Aleksandra Raonic in 2016-17, tutor award.

11.2017 National Award, Outstanding Design Studio Coursework for Li Shaokang’s FYP ’A Palimpsest of Old Shanghai’, tutor award, co-tutored with Aleksandra Raonic, 2017 National Architectural Education Annual Symposium in Shenzhen, China.

11.2017 National Award, Outstanding Design Studio Coursework for Shao Fuwei’s FYP project ’Shifting Perspectives in the Urban Theatre’, tutor award, co-tutored with Aleksandra Raonic, 2017 National Architectural Education Annual Symposium in Shenzhen, China.

07.2017 XJTLU Best Final Year Project (Part 1) in Architecture award for the FYP project A Palimpsest of Old Shanghai by Li Shaokang. Tutor recognition. Co-tutored with Aleksandra Raonic. Project nominated for the RIBA Bronze Medal and available from the RIBA President’s Medals website.

07.2016 XJTLU Best Final Year Project (Part 1) in Architecture award for the FYP project Museum of Navigation and Terminal by Bian Zhifan. Shared first prize. Tutor recognition. Co-tutored with Aleksandra Raonic. Project nominated for the RIBA Bronze Medal and available from the RIBA President’s Medals website.

02.2016 Third prize in the Jiangsu Province Department of Education Final Year Project Awards for the Final Year Project of Wang Siyao, supervised by Claudia Westermann in 2014- 15. Tutor award certificate.

07.2015 XJTLU Best Final Year Project (Part 1) in Architecture award for the FYP project At the Grand Canal by Wang Siyao. Supervised by Claudia Westermann. Tutor recognition. Project nominated for the RIBA Bronze Medal and available from the RIBA President’s Medals website.

07.2014 XJTLU Best Final Year Project (Part 1) in Architecture award for the FYP project Shifting Narratives by Huang Chien-hua. Supervised by Claudia Westermann. Tutor recognition. Project nominated for the RIBA Bronze Medal and available from the RIBA President’s Medals website.

02.2010 Award of Best Master Semester Design Project (tutor), out of 800 projects, Vienna University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture.

02.2010 Nominated for the award of Best Bachelor Semester Design Project (tutor), out of 160 projects, Vienna University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture.