Janina Ebner
Janina Ebner is an integrated designer and researcher whose work explores more-than-human and multispecies design, speculative practices, and methods for making less perceptible ecological relations visible and negotiable through design. Her practice combines artistic research, critical mapping, and visual, material, and spatial methods to investigate relations between humans, nonhumans, environments, and processes of life.
She studied Communication Design at Augsburg University of Applied Sciences and completed a Master’s degree in Integrated Design at the University of the Arts Bremen, with a focus on System and Interaction Design. Since 2023, she has taught at the University of the Arts Bremen and Bremen University of Applied Sciences in System and Interaction Design, Spatial Design, and interdisciplinary design practice. Since 2025, she has worked as a research associate at the School of Architecture Bremen, Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Bremen University of Applied Sciences, within the STARS EU Co-Creation Campus.
Currently, Janina Ebner is pursuing a practice-based PhD at the University of the Arts Bremen, supervised by Prof. Dr. Annette Geiger and Prof. Dr. Wendy Gers (Minerva Art Academy, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen). Her doctoral research investigates how different concepts of life shape more-than-human design practices, with particular attention to soil, perception, critical mapping, and methods of sensing and translation.
janinaebner.com
@jani.ebn
RESUME
ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Since 2025
Research Associate, School of Architecture Bremen, Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Bremen, Germany, STARS EU – Co-Creation Campus
2024–2025
Project and Design Coordination, KW Design Academy, Hamburg/Bremen, Germany
Since 2023
Lecturer, University of the Arts Bremen and Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Bremen, Germany, System and Interaction Design, Spatial Design, Product and 3D Design, interdisciplinary design practice
Since 2023
studio büro — Research & Design Lab, Bremen, Germany, Collaborative research and design practice exploring human–technology–environment relations through speculative, experimental, and process-driven approaches.
Since 2019
Independent Design Practice, Communication, Interaction and Digital Design
EDUCATION
Since 2026
PhD Candidate, Binational Artistic PhD Program, University of the Arts Bremen, Germany
Research project: The Question of Life in the Anthropocene: A Critical Approach to Multispecies Design
2020–2023
Master of Arts, Integrated Design,
University of the Arts Bremen, Germany
Studio: System and Interaction
2015–2019
Bachelor of Arts, Communication Design,
Augsburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany
TEACHING
September 2026
Graduate School, Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta, Indonesia, International Workshop Teaching, Living Ground – Sensing and Translating More-than-Human Relations, Two-day practice-based teaching format exploring sensory observation, more-than-human relations, and artistic research methods.
SS 2026
University of the Arts Bremen, Integrated Design, Teaching and supervision in B.A. and M.A. courses, including Design Exhibiting, More-than-Human Mapping, integrated project work, and individual Master project supervision
Bremen University of Applied Sciences, School of Architecture, INTERSPACE – Ou[te]r Campus 2026, M.A. Architecture, module Ort und Gesellschaft
WS 2025–2026
University of the Arts Bremen, Integrated Design, Teaching and supervision in M.A. Integrated Design, including integrated project work, workshop formats, and individual Master project supervision
SS 2025
University of the Arts Bremen, Integrated Design, INTERSPACE – Ou[te]r Campus 2025, B.A. Integrated Design
WS 2024–2025
University of the Arts Bremen, Integrated Design, Teaching in B.A. and M.A. courses, including From Surface to Form, You See What You Hear — Audible Images, Visible Sounds: A Synesthetic Experiment, and integrated project workshops
SS 2024
University of the Arts Bremen, Integrated Design, INTERSPACE 2024, B.A. Integrated Design
SS 2023
Bremen University of Applied Sciences, School of Architecture, Project-Integrated Representation, 6th semester B.A. Architecture
TALKS & CONFERENCE CONTRIBUTIONS
2026
Soil as a Living Being?, Conference Presentation, 14th International Conference for Asia Pacific Art Studies (ICAPAS 2026), Graduate School, Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2026
Critical Mapping as a More-than-Human Design Practice, Video Contribution, Grounding Territorial Regeneration – Architecture and Urbanism for the Symbiocene, Jade University of Applied Sciences, Oldenburg, Germany
2026
More-than-Human Mapping, Conference Presentation, Neue Ansätze kritischer Geovisualisierung 2026, Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, Germany with Nina Möllering
2025
Speculative Design in Urban Contexts, Talk, DASL Summer Talks ’25, Deutsche Akademie für Städtebau und Landesplanung (DASL), Bremen, Germany
2024
Manifesto for the Dignity of Life, Reading, Museum für zeitgenössische Natur, Theaterberg Bremen, Germany
2023
On the Dignity of Life, Talk, Bremer Zentrum für Baukultur, Bremen, Germany
PUBLICATIONS
2026
Ou[te]r Campus – A Living Laboratory: What Is a European Campus?
Co-editor with Maria Clarke and Ulrike Mansfeld.
Project catalogue, School of Architecture Bremen, Bremen University of Applied Sciences.
ACADEMIC SERVICE
2025
Scientific Committee Member
NINE Conference – 1st International Conference on Artistic Research and Design Methodologies
Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Portugal, 4–5 December 2025
WORKSHOPS & FACILITATION
2026
Living Ground – Sensing and Translating More-than-Human Relations, Workshop Conception and Facilitation, Graduate School, Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Two-day artistic research workshop exploring more-than-human relations through sensory observation, critical mapping, and experimental design practices.
2026
Ou[te]r Campus – A Living Laboratory, Co-Leadership and Facilitation, STARS EU Blended Intensive Programme, School of Architecture Bremen, Germany, International design workshop with participants from all nine STARS EU partner universities
2025
The City as Campus – How Can Universities and Their Students Contribute to Urban Transformation?, Workshop Co-Organization and Moderation, DASL Hochschultag der Nationalen Stadtentwicklungspolitik, Berlin, Germany with Ulrike Mansfeld, Maria Clarke and Claudia Kromrei
2025
More-than-Human Walk, Im Namen der Blume, Theaterberg Bremen, Germany, Concept and facilitation of a sound-based more-than-human walk
SELECTED PROGRAMMES & RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
2025
Unlocking Imagination!, International Artistic Research and Creative Programme, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal
2023–2024
ArteFakt2030 – Inclusive Futures, koralle Designstudio, Bremen, Germany, Participation in a collaborative design-futuring process exploring socially just and inclusive futures through research, scenario development, and speculative artefacts
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2026
Living Ground – Sensing and Translating More-than-Human Relations, Workshop Outcomes Exhibition, ICAPAS 2026, Graduate School, Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2025–2026
Perspektiven. Blickwinkel deiner Welt, Group Exhibition, Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen, Germany, Work shown: On the Dignity of Life
2025
Unlocking Imagination!, Group Exhibition, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal
Since 2024
On the Dignity of Life, Permanent site-specific installation, Theaterberg Bremen, Bremen, Germany
2024
Different Futures – Make A Dialogue, Group Exhibition, koralle Designstudio, Bremen, Germany, Work shown: Plants’ Call for Help, with Nepomuk Böhm
2024
On the Dignity of Life, Annual Exhibition 2024, University of the Arts Bremen, Bremen, Germany
2023
On the Dignity of Life, Solo Exhibition, O/vierzig, temporary cultural space, Bremen, Germany
AWARDS & NOMINATIONS
2025
German Design Award – Newcomer Nominee, German Design Council
2023
Hochschultage Award – Nomination for On the Dignity of Life, University of the Arts Bremen
2022
Hochschultage Award – Nomination for So Close to Me (collaborative project), University of the Arts Bremen
2017
Special Prize, Logo Competition of the Hans-Benedikt Foundation, Augsburg University of Applied Sciences
SELECTED MEDIA & PRESS
2026
Pascasarjana ISI Yogyakarta Gelar The-14th International Conference for Asia Pacific Art Studies – ICAPAS 2026, Impessa.id, Feature on ICAPAS 2026, including Soil as a Living Being? and workshop documentation.
2024
New Habitats from a Ceramic 3D Printer, PAGE Online / PAGE Magazine, Issue 01/2024
2021
Mir so nah / So Close to Me, Theater Bremen Logbook
PORTFOLIO
Virtual Reality Experience
Collaborative project with Theater Bremen
So Close to Me is an immersive virtual reality experience exploring species extinction and human impacts on the environment through the perspective of a bee. The 14-minute experience combines abstract visual worlds, sound, and interactive elements to immerse viewers in the bee’s life cycle, from the shelter of the hive to the challenges of a changing environment.
With: Céline Schmidt, Lisa Schramm, Thi Laura Mai Nguyen Chi, Nils Pisarsky, Sarah Keilbach
Interactive Digital Memorial, Data Visualisation and Sonification
Collaborative project with the Arolsen Archives – International Center on Nazi Persecution
Developed in collaboration with the Arolsen Archives, the project proposes a digital monument commemorating the victims of National Socialism. Combining data visualisation and sonification, the interactive prototype connects individual fates with broader historical events. Through a minimalist visual language and spatial sound, archival data becomes accessible in a multimodal experience of remembrance.
With: Samuel Christiansen, Céline Schmidt, Sarah Keilbach
Audiovisual Installation, Motion Design and Audio-Reactive Visualisation
Different Futures – Make a Dialogue: Protopian Futures 2030–2040, koralle Designstudio
Plants’ Call for Help explores forms of communication beyond human perception. Drawing on scientific research into acoustic emissions from plants under stress, the audiovisual installation artistically reinterprets these signals through sound and abstract, audio-reactive visualisations, making otherwise imperceptible expressions of plant life accessible through sensory experience.
With: Nepomuk Böhm
Artistic Research, Publication and Experimental Ceramic 3D Printing
On the Dignity of Life explores the ongoing crisis of species extinction and the possibilities of coexistence between humans and nonhuman beings. Drawing on Donna Haraway’s thinking, the project combines theoretical research, photography, and a manifesto on coexistence with an artistic exploration of alternative habitats. Through experimental ceramic 3D printing, new dwellings for wild bees, sparrows, and hedgehogs were developed, challenging anthropocentric approaches to design.
Social Design, Participatory Design and Interaction Design
Who’s Who explores social connections and networking beyond digital communication. Developed through research into the ways people establish, maintain, and deepen relationships, the project resulted in an analogue networking kit containing 38 objects and tools. Combining documentary research with participatory design, the kit encourages personal encounters and offers a playful approach to building and nurturing social connections.