Stephan Schwarz studied architecture at TU Graz and ENSA-Belleville in Paris. Since 2010, he is a founding partner and the conceptional brain of ISSS research architecture urbanism.  Before starting his own practice he gained experience working with DFA (Dietmar Feichtinger Architects) in Paris. Parallel to his work with ISSS, he was teaching at the chair of urbanism at BTU Cottbus from 2013 to 2018. In his work he combines theoretical research with architectural and urbanistic practice. His research dealing with cooperative city making and the benefits of co-housing was awarded with the Margarete Schütte Lihotzky Prize in 2011 and he constantly enriches the narratives created within the architectural and urban projects of his work. He is a member of the Architektenkammer Berlin.  ISSS research |architecture |urbanism was founded in 2010 by Ingrid Sabatier and Stephan Schwarz in Paris and is based in Berlin since 2012. Following a collaborative design approach, the studio works on holistic concepts, reaching from large-scale urban design schemes to innovative architectural proposals.