Markus Miessen (*1978) is an architect, spatial consultant and writer migrating between Berlin, London, and the Middle East. In 2002, he set up Studio Miessen, a collaborative agency for spatial practice and cultural analysis, and in 2007 was founding partner of the Berlin-based architectural practice nOffice. In various collaborations, Miessen has published books such as East Coast Europe (Sternberg, 2008), The Violence of Participation (Sternberg, 2007), With/Without -Spatial Products, Practices and Politics in the Middle East (Bidoun, 2007), Did Someone Say Participate? An Atlas of Spatial Practice (MIT Press, 2006) and Spaces of Uncertainty (Müller+Busmann, 2002). In 2008, The Independent listed his book Did Someone Say Participate as one of the ten best architecture books of all time. He frequently contributes to international magazines and journals. His work has been published and exhibited widely, including at the Lyon, Venice, and Shenzhen Biennials. Miessen has taught and lectured at institutions such as the Architectural Association (2004-2008), Columbia and MIT. He has consulted the Slovenian Consulate (NYC) during Slovenia's presidency of the EU council, the European Kunsthalle, the Serpentine Gallery and the Swiss think tank W.I.R.E.; in 2008, he initiated and now directs the Winter School Middle East. Most recently, Miessen works as a Harvard fellow on a research project in Iran/Iraq, teaches as Visiting Professor at the Berlage Institute (Rotterdam) and writes up his forthcoming book The Nightmare of Participation (Sternberg Press & Merve Verlag, 2010). He is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Research Architecture (Goldsmiths, London) and now an editor of ARCHIVE (Berlin/Turin).