Manuel Herz is a practicing architect based in Cologne and Basel, his most recent project being the Synagogue and Community Center in Mainz. He is the head of research and teaching at ETH Studio Basel: Contemporary City Institute and teaches at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design with Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. After having finished his studies at RWTH Aachen University and the Architectural Association in London, he taught at the Bartlett School of Architecture and KTH Stockholm. Manuel has published extensively on issues of diasporas and architecture. Currently, he is researching on the topic of planning strategies of refugee camps and the dilemma of humanitarian action