Trained as an architect and working today as an artist, I explore the shifting thresholds between the built and the natural. My practice moves across painting, permaculture, and spatial design—disciplines through which questions of place, form, and ecology continuously intersect. This site brings together current explorations with the projects that have informed their evolution.
KRISTIEN RING
(1969*) grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, USA, and has been living in Berlin since 1991. I studied both in the USA (Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture) and in Berlin (Dipl.Ing. Architektin) and am a registered architect and member of the Architects’ Association Berlin, Germany since 1998.
Permaculture Design Certified. Since 2020 I have intensively studied and practiced Permaculture Design and Garden Implementation.
About Me
I understand architecture and painting as parallel modes of spatial inquiry—each tracing the fragile line between the figurative and the abstract, the material and the imagined. My current practice brings together abstract landscape painting and permaculture garden design, grounded in a foundation of earlier work in architecture, curatorial projects, research, writing, and teaching.
This site gathers ongoing works alongside an archive of projects. Together they trace a continuing engagement with spatial perception, ecological design, and cultural dialogue—an evolving investigation into how we inhabit, shape, and are shaped by the living world.
Teaching Experience
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Extraordinary Professorship, Faculty of Architecture, Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic (2023–2024)
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Professor, University of South Florida, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Design (2015–2020)
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Visiting Fellow, Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Western Australia (2016)
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Visiting Professor, University of Sheffield, England, School of Architecture (2014)
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Assistant Professor, Technical University of Braunschweig, Architecture Department, Institute for Design and Architectural Strategies (IDAS) (2011–2012 / 2014–2015)
Previous Professional Experience
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Founding Director, DAZ German Center for Architecture, Berlin (2004–2011)
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Architect, various international offices (1990s+)
Publications (Selection)
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URBAN LIVING Strategies for the Future / Strategien für das Zukünftige Wohnen, in collaboration with the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Planning, 264 pages, German/English, ©Jovis 2015, ISBN: 978-3-86859-331-0
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SELFMADE CITY Berlin: Self-Initiated Urban Living and Architectural Interventions, in collaboration with the Berlin Senate Department for City Planning and Environment, 224 pages, German/English, ©Jovis 2013, ISBN 978-3-86859-167-5 (2 editions, 5000+ copies, out of print)
Kristien has presented her published work extensively at international conferences worldwide, including a TEDx talk and the Venice Architecture Biennale.
Exhibitions, Talks, and Projects (Selection)
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Participated in national and international architecture and art exhibitions, including Venice Architecture Biennale
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Public talks, workshops, and conferences on architecture, urbanism, and ecological design
Skills and Specializations
Languages
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English (native)
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German (fluent)