Dr. Stephanie Briers

Ste­pha­nie Briers is a sou­thern urba­nist, trans­di­sci­pli­na­ry and action rese­ar­cher with a back­ground in archi­tec­tu­re. She is based at the Trans­di­sci­pli­na­ri­ty Lab at ETH Zurich, whe­re she leads trans­di­sci­pli­na­ry approa­ches with rese­ar­chers working to inte­gra­te socie­tal actors into net-zero emis­si­ons and sus­tainable deve­lo­p­ment research. 

Her doc­to­ral stu­dies at ETH Zurich’s Insti­tu­te of Land­scape and Urban Stu­dies (super­vi­sed by Chris­ti­an Schmid and Sophie Old­field) invol­ved the instal­la­ti­on of 800 solar lights in Cape Town, and is published as a book titled “Infra­struc­tures of Free­dom: Public Light and Ever­y­night Life on a Sou­thern City’s Mar­gins”.

Ste­pha­nie Briers is the co-foun­der of Light­Up, a solar light­ing pro­gram­me advo­ca­ting for com­mu­ni­ty-led public light­ing to sup­port a just and sus­tainable tran­si­ti­on in South Africa’s mar­gi­na­li­sed neigh­bour­hoods. Ste­pha­nie has co-direc­ted the short film, “Ever­y­night Life” and cura­ted seve­ral pro­ject exhi­bi­ti­ons, inclu­ding at the Venice Bien­na­le of Archi­tec­tu­re, the MAXXI Design Muse­um in Rome, and Spier Light­Art in South Africa.

Ste­pha­nie Briers: publi­ca­ti­ons

Ste­pha­nie Briers: web­site ETH

Infra­struc­tures of Freedom