Merle Ibach

Merle Ibach is a Research Associate at the Department of Urban Planning and Regional Development, HafenCity University Hamburg (since 2024). She is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Sociology and Cultural Organisations, Leuphana University Lüneburg (since 2018), and has held research positions at Goldsmiths University London, TU/UdK Berlin, and FHNW Academy of Art and Design in Basel.

• Education:
• M.A. Integrative Design (2018), thesis: "Open Movement – Knowledge practices in open design"
• B.A. European Media Studies (2015), thesis: "post publishing – A practical exploration of design capabilities of electronic books and its operational limits"

Her research focuses on governance and participation formats in urban transformation, post-growth paradigms, and design anthropology. She explores how design practices intervene in societal challenges through projects like Fab City (2024–present) and Commons in Design (2019–2023), funded by SNSF and FHNW Lehrfonds grants.

Key publications address prototyping sustainable urban visions (2024), 3D printing in commons-based futures (2022), and autoethnographic studies on making (2021). She has taught interdisciplinary workshops and seminars on design theory, collaborative processes, and protest art at institutions including HGK Basel, FH Augsburg, and UDK Berlin.