Researchers

Gili Inbar

Gili Inbar received her M.A. degree in architecture from Tel Aviv University (2022). Her MA thesis focused on old industrial areas in development towns. She received her B.Arch. degree from the Technion’s Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning (1993). She joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) in 2018, by then she has worked in architectural practice in a variety of fields and in recent years with an emphasis on urban planning. She is interested in the interface between social and spatial issues and its implications on the everyday lives of people in the city.

Noa Neta

Noa Neta received her B.A. (2020) in Geography and Environmental Sciences from Haifa University. She is currently studying for M.A. in Ggography and Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University. She joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) in 2024 as a research assistant to Prof. Tali Hatuka, by then she has worked in landscape architecture practice in a variety of fields and in recent years with an emphasis on urban planning.

Ronnen Ben-Arie

Dr Ronnen Ben-Arie received his PhD (2016) degree from the Department of Government and Political Theory, Haifa University. In his dissertation he explored the concepts of resistance in the political thought of Gilles Deleuze and Michel Foucault. He completed his MA (2007) at the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas at Tel-Aviv University. His MA thesis focused on alternative spatial planning in the Unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev. He received a B.Arch (2001) degree from the Architecture Department at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem. He teaches at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Technion and at the Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication at The Open University. His research focuses on spatialities of power and resistance; contested and shared urban spaces; and the political history of shared urban spaces and shared life in Israel-Palestine. He is also active and involved with different organizations, especially regarding issues of human rights and spatial planning.

Hadas Zur

Urban Sociologist,  received her M.A (2016) in Sociology & Anthropology and B.A (2012) in Women and Gender Studies, and Cinema from Tel Aviv University. Her M.A thesis focused on the spatial history of prostitution in Tel Aviv during the years 1975-1995. She worked as a conflict group facilitator and led Israeli-Palestinian dialogue seminars in several organization in Israel, Germany, and the USA. Alongside working as an academic coordinator at the Walter Lebach institute for Jewish Arab relations at TAU. Prior to joining the lab she worked at the Israeli green building council. Today she is a PhD student, working as a project coordinator of an interdisciplinary research on smart cities. Moreover, she is the editor of Urbanologia magazine and podcast. Her research focuses on the connections between violence and technology in the urban environment.

Amitai Bloom

Amitai Bloom has received his B.A. (2022) in Geography and Political Science from Tel Aviv University. He is currently studying for M.A. in Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University and is working at the TAU Innovation Lab (T.I.L) under the guidance of Prof. Revital Hatuka. His research will focus on urban flooding, mapping areas prone to risk and develop planning and policy changes to mitigate the issue.

Gal Elhanan

Gal Elhanan received his B.A In Film and Television Studies (2014) from Tel-Aviv University. He has joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) in 2022. He is an editor in Urbanologia magazine and currently studying for his M.A. in Urban Studies. His main theme of interest is the connections between urban planning and the everyday life in the city and his thesis focuses on relations between the neighborhood scale and health-related behaviors in the digital age.

Iftah Giloh

Architect Iftah Giloh received his B.Arch. degree from Tel Aviv University (2016) and has worked as an architect for the last several years. He is currently studying for his M.A. in Urban Studies and has joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) in 2022. Beforehand he specialized in public building design and new BIM methodologies. His main theme of interest is the relations between emerging new technologies and the built environment.

Lee Ben Moshe

Lee Ben Moshe received her B.A (2016) in Interior Design from the Holon Institute of Technology. She is currently working as an independent interior designer, focusing mainly on commercial and residential projects. Lee joined the Lab in 2019 as a research assistant to Prof. Tali Hatuka

Isamu Goiati

Isamu Goiati received his Bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning and Urban Design (2021) in Amsterdam. He is currently pursuing a Master’s in Urbanism at TU Delft, which he has temporarily paused to complete a Master’s in Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University. Previously, Isamu worked as a research assistant in the urban analytics department at the University of Amsterdam, where he focused on data science applications in urban contexts. He is particularly fascinated by the intersection of data science and urbanism, exploring how these fields can synergistically enhance urban planning processes.

Alura Vincent

Alura Vincent received her MBA and M.S. in Civil Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2023. Her work focuses on the intersection of operations and sustainability for large companies. She previously worked at Deloitte Consulting within their sustainable supply chain practice. She is specifically interested in the role transforming operations can have on mitigating climate change and reducing emissions.

Zohar Tal

Landscape Architect Zohar Tal received her B.L.Arch. degree from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (2018, Cum Laude) and worked as a landscape architect primarily involved in large-scale urban and regional projects until joining the lab in 2020. Currently pursuing a M.A. thesis, she is intending to focus her studies on improving the models for massive planning and design of residential environments characterizing the accelerated urbanization of the present era.

Aya Rosenwald

Architect Aya Rosenwald , B.Arch., from the Technion’s Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning (2011). Working in the architectural practice in a variety of scales, in an urban density context. Currently completing her M.A in architecture at TAU. She is interested in the impacts of procedures such as economic dynamics, demographic growth and ect. on cities, today and tomorrow.

Eduarda Tenenbaum

Architect and urban planner Eduarda Tenenbaum received her Bachelor’s degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) in 2020. Currently a Master’s student in Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University, she is focused on the mutual relationship between climate change and cities. Eduarda aims to promote social change and regenerate natural systems by transforming the urban environment. She believes collaboration and innovation are key factors in adapting our cities to contemporary challenges.

Antonio Mendoza

Antonio Mendoza received his Master’s degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2017), with a thesis focusing on crime displacement produced by public and private responses to violence and crime. In the past, he has worked as a teaching assistant on database management and GIS at MIT and as a researcher in projects on various topics that use spatial statistics, including health, transportation, land regulation and security, in Mexico and the United States.

Coral Hamo Goren

Coral Hamo Goren received her B.Arch. degree from the Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design (2016). She is currently studying for her M.A. in Urban Studies, and has joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) in 2017.  Her main point of interest is the future of cities, in an age of rising violence and increased population density.

Miryam Wijler

Miryam Wijler received her M.A in philosophy (2017, Summa Cum Laude). Her M.A thesis analyzed  Marxian concepts of society, and used this analysis to examine the changing characteristics of socio-natural categories under different social forms. She is an alumna of the Adi Lautman Interdisciplinary Program for Outstanding Students. Miryam worked as an assistant to the editor of the Israeli academic journal Theory and Criticism (2010-2013), and as a teaching assistant in the philosophy department in Tel Aviv university (2012-2016). She was part of the LCUD team between 2009-2010 as a research assistant to Dr. Tali Hatuka and re-joined the laboratory in 2018. She was the project coordinator of a research studying protest and dissent in the city.

David Kambo

Yulia Furshik

Yulia Furshik received her B.A in Philosophy and Biology (2016) from Tel Aviv University. She is doing an M.A. in Urban Studies. Yulia joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) in 2016. Beforehand she has been working for several years in the field of Informal Education, namely in BINA – Center for Jewish Identity and Hebrew Culture and the Bronfman Youth Fellowship in Israel.

Sunny Menozzi

Sunny Menozzi Peterson received her Masters in City Planning (2015) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where her thesis focused on the adaptive reuse of heavy industrial sites. She has worked on projects in the United States, India, and Singapore, and her professional interests include historic preservation, adaptive reuse of industrial and military sites, and the intersection of health, aging, and urban design.

Hen Roznek

Hen received her B.A. (2010, magna cum laude) from The Marc Rich Honors Program in Humanities and Arts at Tel Aviv University. She worked until 2013 as a journalist in some of Israel’s leading media outlets, after-which she joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) as deputy editor of the lab’s blog, “Urbanologia”. Currently she is doing an M.A. in Urban Studies. Her research explores the various interfaces and relationships between adjacent cities within the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.

Michael Pearce

Michael Pearce received his BA in Architecture from Yale University (2009) and his Master in City Planning from MIT (2019). He focuses on how we can use technology to improve and better understand our cities.

Roni Bar

Received her B.Arch (2006, Cum Laude) and MA (2011, Cum Laude) from Tel Aviv University. She has worked as an architect until 2009 when she joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD). Her Master’s thesis focused on planning and lifestyle in new residential environments. Currently, she is a PhD candidate, investigating the role of risk and uncertainty in urban planning processes and spatial practices, focusing on the case of Jerusalem.

Yonatan Gat

Yonatan is a third year honors BA student in Tel Aviv University studying geography and political science. Yonatan joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) in 2014 and is currently involved in a research project investigating spatial patterns in landscape design in Israel.

Merav Battat

received her B.Arch degree from Bezlel Academy of Arts and Design (2009). She has worked as an architect until 2011, when she received an Azrieli fellowship and joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD). Her Master’s thesis, entitled “Contemporary Urbanization Processes in Israel”, focuses on urbanization patterns in three Israeli cities.

Rachel Bickel

received her B.A. in cultural anthropology from Mount Holyoke College (2007). She joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) as a research assistant to Dr. Tali Hatuka 2010. Her main interests concern the intersection between aethetics and ethnography and the use of non-fiction media to explore the built world and social environments within it.

Devin Glowinski

received his B.Arts degree in Urban Systems and Political Science from McGill University, Canada (2004). He completed his M.Arts in Town and Regional Planning from the University of Sheffield, UK (2005). Devin works on developing sustainable approaches to transportation planning and has previously worked on a city centre regeneration project in Toronto. Devin has practiced urban planning at the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, Canada, since 2008.

Jessica Fain

received her Master in City Planning from MIT (2011), where she focused on city design and development. She previously worked for the New York City Design Commission. She is specifically interested in public art and artist spaces, environmental remediation and equitable urban planning practice.

Assaf Frances

is an honors BA student in Tel Aviv university studying Political Science and Geography with an emphasis on city planning and an interest in the effect of politics and society on urbanism and architecture. A member of the Merchav movement for Israeli urbanism since 2009. Joined the laboratory for contemporary urban design (LCUD) in 2010 and is currently starting a research project on urban parks near the Tel Aviv sea shore.

Hallel Elnir

is a honors BA student in Tel Aviv University studying geography and political science. Hallel joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) in 2013 and is currently involved in a research project on design codes in Mediterranean climate, examining urban parks near the Tel Aviv sea shore.

Carmel Hanany

Shelly Hefetz

received her BA degree from the Department of Geography and Human Environment at Tel Aviv University (2013). She joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) in 2012 where she was involved in a comparative research project examining and analyzing industrial areas throughout Israel.

Michael Jacobson

received his B.Arch. degree from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design (2006). Currently, he works as an urban planner at FSJ Architects & Urban Planners firm. Michael joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) in 2009. His Master’s thesis, entitled “The Future Development of Urban Centers in New Towns”, investigates planning, conflicts and public space in new cities.

Priyanka Kapoor

received her B.Arch degree from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi (2006), after which she worked as an Architect in Singapore for 2 years. In 2008 she joined the S.M.Arch.S. Architecture + Urbanism program at MIT. She is interested in using urban design as a tool to understand social, ecological and economic issues. During the summer of 2010 she joined LCUD as a summer research fellow.

Inbal Keidar

received her B.Arch (2010) from Tel Aviv University. Currently she is doing an M.A. in Urban Studies. Inbal joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) in 2015 and was involved in planing N.O.A.M industrial site.

Hila Lothan

received her B.arch degree from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design (2009). Hila joined the laboratory for contemporary Urban Design in 2011. Her Master’s thesis, entitled “Patterns if Segregation and Integration: Towards Developing a New Residential Model”, investigates social conflicts, planning policies and housing developments in divided cities.

Nathan Prevendar

received his B.Arch degree (Cum Laude) from University of Southern California (2006). In 2009 he joined the S.M.Arch.S. Architecture + Urbanism program at MIT. Interests include research about reclamation of industrial zones in the urban fabric, conflict space, and the combination of musical theory and spatial analysis. During the summer of 2010 he joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design (LCUD) as a summer research fellow.

Yoav Zilberdik

received his B.Arch. degree from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and design (2009), and currently works as an architect. Yoav joined the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban design (LCUD) in 2012 and is particularly interested in the relations between social issues, urbanism and architecture.His Master’s thesis, entitled “Aggression and Alienation in Cities”, focuses on spatial appropriation and planning regulation.

Christopher Rhie

is a dual degree student at MIT, studying city planning and real estate development. He is a former energy manager with a background in political science. Christopher joined LCUD in summer 2012 to research industrial urbanism as a potential redevelopment strategy in new towns.

Alexis Wheeler

received her B.Arch and B.S. in Building Sciences from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2002) after which she spent nine years practicing architecture in Seattle on projects ranging from large-scale international mixed use to domestic affordable housing. Currently a graduate candidate for a Master in City Planning and beginning a Master of Science in Real Estate Development in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT, Alexis is a visiting scholar in the lab conducting research into prototypical strategies for the retrofitting of New Towns.

Michal Huss

Michal Huss joins the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban design after completing a PhD at Girton College, University of Cambridge, which was sponsored by the Economic and Social Sciences Research Council. Prior to this, Michal gained a Distinction in a Master of Arts degree in Art and Politics at Goldsmiths, University of London, and holds a Bachelor of Arts Joint Honours degree in History of Art and Fine Art from the same institution. Her research utilizes creative participatory methodologies to develop our understanding of the interaction between politics and the built environment in conflicted cities. It focuses on the urban resistance and activism of displaced populations within transcultural landscapes.

Corbin Seligman

Corbin Seligman received his B.A. in Economics and Geography from McGill University (2010). He spent nearly 10 years working in real estate, construction and related fields in Toronto, Canada. He is pursuing a master’s thesis program at Tel Aviv University in the Faculty of Exact Sciences, Department of Geography. Corbin worked at our lab between November 2019 to August 2020 as a research assistant in the “The Dynamics and Geography of The Cybersecurity Industry” project lead by prof. Tali Hatuka.