Team
Sub-Project Ancient Horticultural Knowledge
Prof. Dr. Christian Kassung
Christian Kassung has been Professor of Cultural Techniques and
History of Knowledge at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin since 2006. After
reading German Studies and Physics in Aachen and Cologne, he completed his
Doctorate 1999 in German Literature at the Universität zu Köln with a
dissertation on Robert Musil's »›Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften‹ in the discourse
of modern physics«. In 2007, his professorial dissertation was on the pendulum
and its meaning for the history of knowledge. From 2018 to 2023, he headed the
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences as Dean. Furthermore, he is a member
of the »Center for Cultural Techniques« and the »Center for the Science of
Materials in Berlin«. He is Principal Investigator of the Cluster of Excellence
»Matters of Activity«. During the summer semester of 2023, he was Senior Fellow
at the DFG-Centre for Advanced Studies »Imaginaria of Force« at Universität
Hamburg.
His research focuses on the history of knowledge and the
cultural history of the natural sciences, the history and practice of technical
media, and non-hegemonic structures of knowledge. His most recent research
within the cluster includes the material culture and cultural techniques of
resilience.
Prof. Dr. Susanne Muth
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Alwin Cubasch M.A.
Alwin J. Cubasch is a historian of science and technology. He studied
cultural studies and philosophy at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and history
of science and technology at Technische Universität Berlin. He is completing
a PhD at the University of Innsbruck on NASA’s space food research and
changing forms of nutritional knowledge in the late twentieth century. From
2018 to 2020, he worked as a research and teaching associate at the
University of Innsbruck. Between 2020 and 2025, he was a research associate
at the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity« at Humboldt-Universität zu
Berlin and served as project lead of »Filtering.« His research focuses on the
histories of knowledge, food technology, cultural techniques and material
environments. His monograph Zu Gast im Automaten (2023) received the 2025
Conrad Matschoß Prize and an Honourable Mention for the 2025 ICOHTEC Turriano
Award. In POMONA, he investigates ancient garden knowledge and its relevance
to resilient urban design today.
Steven Goetz M.A.
Steven Götz is a Classical Archaeologist and Research Associate at
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. His research focuses on Late Republican and
Imperial Roman architecture, as well as the topography and sanctuary contexts
of Iron Age Cyprus. A further focus of his work is the digital
three-dimensional documentation and reconstruction of archaeological
contexts.
Currently pursuing a PhD on the relationship between Roman
maritime villas and the representation of maritime architectural landscapes in
Roman wall painting, he is serving as Co-Director of the Villa at Punta della
Calcarella excavation project, conducted by the University of Copenhagen, since
2026. His fieldwork included excavations at Ostia Antica, Sperlonga and Capo di
Sorrento. He is also currently a researcher in the Kition–Idalion–Tamassos
project and has participated in excavations and research campaigns at the
Sanctuary of Aphrodite on the Eastern Acropolis of Idalion (Cyprus) since
2022.
Since November 2026, he has been a Research Associate in POMONA,
which investigates ancient garden knowledge and archaeological contexts in
Pompeii and explores their potential to inform climate-resilient approaches to
contemporary urban green spaces.
Sub-Project Garden Participation
Prof. Dr. Johann Habakuk Israel
Johann Habakuk Israel is a professor of Applied Computer Science and
Human-Computer Interaction at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences (HTW),
where he heads the Human-Centred Immersive Systems (CENTIS) research group. He
is a member of the steering committee of the »Tangible Interaction« and the
Human-Computer Interaction Division of the German Informatics Society (GI).
His research focuses on immersive sketching, intuitive interaction, tangible
interaction, 3D interaction techniques in virtual environments, information
visualisation, culture informatics and digital participation in urban
development.
Fabian Töpfer M.Sc.
Fabian Töpfer studied Media and Computer Science at Technische Universität
Dresden. From 2023 to 2026 he worked there as a research associate, developing
methods for the immersive recontextualisation of historical artefacts in
digital cultural heritage. His research centres on spatial interfaces in art
and culture, with a particular focus on transmedial and co-located
experiences, exploring expressive, embodied interactions and their narrative
potential.
Sub-Project Garden Transfer
Siegfried Bacher
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N.N.
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