studio aden
Somalia – Germany

studio aden represents Samira Aden, a multidisciplinary transnational architect, design researcher, and Lead Curator of the Pan African Biennale, whose practice operates at the intersection of art, architecture, emerging technologies, and social justice.

Her artistic and curatorial work investigates the relationships between materiality, spatial systems, aesthetics, and cultural intimacy through a distinctly Afrocentric lens. Across architectural environments, research-driven installations, material experimentation, and interdisciplinary media, her practice continuously redefines contemporary parameters of perception, innovation, and cultural production.

As an architect and design researcher, Aden has extensive experience in the development of highly innovative building systems and next-generation material applications, including the integration of third-generation solar-active technologies within architectural structures and spatial design.

She has held research and academic positions at leading international institutions, including the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science in Melbourne, Australia; Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for Energy and Materials,Germany and the research platform Bau Kunst Erfinden University of Kassel/ Faculty of Visual Arts, and has collaborated with internationally recognised architectural offices and interdisciplinary research networks across Europe, Africa, and Australia.

As a lecturer in building materials and renewable energy, she combines transnational architectural perspectives with epistemic knowledge production, material innovation, and sustainable energy systems. Her work advances a future-oriented design approach grounded in ecological responsibility, technological innovation, and cultural resonance.