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Kathrin Herz

PhD student and research assistant at the department of Architecture of the University of Siegen
Host university: Vilnius Tech
Period of stay: 29 August - 30 September 2022

About me

Currently, I am doing my doctorate in the department of Architecture at the University of Siegen. My research interests are anonymous and vernacular architecture, typology and conversion, architecture and migration, space andtime, informal spaces, and urban transformations.

Preparations

By an email from the House of Young Talents at the Unviersity of Siegen, I found out about the possibility of going to Vilnius Tech for a one-month ATHENA research stay. The support from the ATHENA team at my home university was great - extremely helpful and competent in all matters at all times. Additionally, their briefing on the ATHENA programme was very helpful.

Contents of stay and benefits for the work

My visit to Vilnius Tech was intended to serve three objectives: 

1. to prepare my upcoming disputation
2. to inspire new research ideas
3. to gain insight into research and teaching at Vilnius Tech

In Vilnius, I had the opportunity to experience individual programme items of the summer school "ARCHITECTURE IN-BETWEEN HOMES". A lecture on how Lithuania deals with migration and migrants at the EU's external border with Belarus and the visit to the Naujininkai Refugees Camp in Vilnius were particularly interesting. Additionally, I attended the summer school's final presentation.

As my dissertation is about mosques in Germany that were built by migrants from Turkey, I wanted to explore mosques in Lithuania as well. Therefore, I visited the Vilnius Mosque and Islamic Center (the mosque rooms are on the 2^nd and 3^rd floor of a multifunctional building), Nemėžis Mosque in a village near Vilnius (a wooden mosque with minaret), and Kaunas Mosque (a stone mosque with a minaret). The three very different buildings are essentially based on the migration of Tartars in the 15^th century. These Baukultur testimonies of historical migration formed an interesting contrast to the impulses of the summer school, which addressed the current migration and accomodation situation.

To my colleagues, I would particularly reccomend a stay at Vilnius Tech in case their research has a specific connection to the city or country. Since there doesn't seem to be non-professional teaching staff (Mittelbau/wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter*innen) in the structure of Vilnius Tech, it was difficult for me to find a connection at first. Hence, I would recommend a stay in Vilnius especially to students. In particular, the summer schools, which take place regulrarly in September, are an excellent opportunity for students to exchange ideas with fellow students and teachers. They are set up as design workshops at the interafce between architecture and educational sciences, which are located in relevant contexts and specific scenarios.

Conclusion

I am very grateful to ATHENA and DAAD for the great opportunity to visit Vilnius Tech. I started my research stay relatively openly and had no specific exprectations. Furthermore, I met many interesting people in Vilnius and could add valuable contacts to my academic network. Time will tell if this will result in future collaborations.

My experience in a nutshell

The research stay at Vilnius Tech allowed me to gather a lot of new impressions and ideas. I got to know a modern and innovative Faculty of Architecture and many committed people.

Plans and models in the corridor of Vilnius Tech's Faculty of Architecture.	The Nemėžis Mosque and Cemetery are a result of the migration of Tatars in the 15th century.