Marta H. Wisniewska

Marta H. Wisniewska is an architect and urban planner deriving her designs from an extended understanding of the genius loci with a special focus on local material availability, craftsmanship, and industrial processing skills.

Influenced by her experiences researching and teaching in contrasting contexts such as Ethiopia, Singapore, Switzerland, and Germany, she aims to activate new and alternative resources for unique and context-specific applications, aspiring to widen the architectural palette.

Wisniewska's work has been published in several book publications such as Building from Waste (Birkhäuser, 2014); Addis Ababa: a Manifesto on African Progress (Ruby Press, 2018); and City in Your Hands, ETH Zurich (2019). She holds an M.Sc. in architecture and urban planning from ZUT Szczecin, Poland.

Academic Research/Specialty Areas

  • Architectural design
  • Architectural technology
  • Collaborative practice
  • Sustainability
  • Innovative Materials
  • Healthy Materials

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Classes (Selected)

  • ARCH 2101/2102 Integrative Design: WoodworksStudents develop an understanding of context and precedent in the construction of architectural form, and are introduced to contextual and programmatic densities in addition to circulatory, spatial, and organizational strategies in the design process.
  • ARCH 4605/ARCH 6605: Home is Where the TOXINS areThis course addresses pertinent issues relative to the subject of Construction. The instructor(s) of the course are drawn from the permanent and visiting faculty who may either broadly or narrowly define the course's scope and content. For precise content, please see the Architecture Department webpage.
  • ARCH 2101/ARCH 2102: The HouseIn this Integrative Design Studio, the requirements of building systems are seen to both support and inform architectural concepts and form. One of the key design experiences during this semester will be the interaction of these concepts and building systems. Questions of energy, thermal comfort, sustainability, structure, material, and life safety will be addressed.

 

Exhibitions and Presentations (Selected)

  • Daring Growth, 15th International Architecture Exhibition Biennale di Venezia, Palazzo Mora, Venice (2016)
  • Waste Vault, at the IdeasCity Festival, New Museum, New York City, USA (2015)
  • Building from Waste, Swissnex San Francisco, San Francisco, USA (2015)

Publications (Selected)

  • Wisniewska, Marta H. with Dirk E. Hebel, Felix Heisel, and Sophie Nash: "Addis Ababa: A Manifesto on African Progress," Ruby Press (2019)
  • Wisniewska, Marta H. with Gerhard Schmitt, and Estefania Tapias: "City in Your Hands," ETH Zurich Information Architecture (2019)
  • Wisniewska, Marta H. with Dirk E. Hebel, and Felix Heisel: "Building from Waste: Recovered Materials in Architecture and Construction," Birkhäuser (2014)

Selected Work

  • A rectangle of graduated gray-blue from dark to light, white text.

    Building from Waste: Recovered Materials in Architecture and Construction (2014), coauthored with Dirk E. Hebel and Felix Heisel.

  • Two rectangles with colorful images on red background, white text.

    Addis Ababa: A Manifesto on African Progress, Ruby Press (2019), coauthored with Dirk E. Hebel, Felix Heisel and Sophie Nash.

  • Wavy brown lines stacked above each other.

    Waste Vault ( 2015), at the IdeasCity Festival, New Museum, New York City. photo / Albert Vecerka

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