About the Author

Maud Cassaignau is an urban designer, architect and academic. She grew up in France and Luxembourg and studied architecture at the ETH Zurich and Columbia University. After graduating from the ETH Zurich, she worked for renowned practices in New York City, Paris and Zurich on a variety of competitions and built projects.

In 2005 she co-founded the architecture and urban design practice XPACE with Markus Jung. Through her work, she has overseen the completion of housing and adaptive reuse projects, and worked on prize-winning urban designs. In 2011 XPACE relocated to Melbourne, Australia, where it continued working on a wide range of projects.

Maud’s practice and research explores processes of urban transformation, incorporating resources as drivers for sustainable growth. It evolves around the interaction of design, place and context, aiming at finding socially, historically and environmentally responsive design solutions.

In parallel to practising, Maud has more than 15 years of international academic experience holding positions at ETH Zurich, FHNW Basel, HES-SO Fribourg and, since 2011, at Monash University. She is regularly invited as a guest critic and speaker at universities in Australia and Europe including RMIT University, Melbourne University, University of Technology Sydney, Southeast University Nanjing, Bauhaus Dessau, Liverpool University and the Venice Biennale. Markus Jung is a Melbourne-based urban designer, architect and academic who grew up in Italy where his passion for cities was born.

After graduating at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, he worked for leading practices in the UK and Switzerland on transportation, mixed-use redevelopments and urbanism projects. In 2005 he, together with Maud Cassaignau, co-founded the architecture and urban design practice XPACE. Its work focuses on urban diversity, social and environmental responsiveness, and has been widely published internationally.

In parallel to practising, Markus has taught widely: at the ETH Zurich from 2004 to 2010, as a visiting professor at Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu in 2016, and from 2011 at Monash University. His practice-led design-research explores strategies of metropolitan transformation, incorporating resources and the existing built and social fabrics as drivers for resilient growth.

Markus investigates hi-density housing types as important future models that address the needs of an expanding and diversified population.

Beyond these commitments, Markus is regularly invited as a speaker and visiting critic to international conferences, workshops and design review panels at Universities and organisations in Australia, Europe, US and China. Mathew Xue is an independent writer, researcher, graphic designer and publisher. He was born in Beijing and raised in Melbourne, where he studied architecture at Monash University.

Since 2013, Matthew has been collaborating with Markus Jung and Maud Cassaignau, specialising in the research of urban transformation and underutilised space. He has worked with practices in China and Germany, focusing on strategic urban development and mixed-use design. His work has been featured and presented in publications around the world.