Research Associate SaWa Project
KHK Visiting Research Fellow 2017

Beate Löffler holds a degree in Architecture, and completed her M.A. in History and History of Arts. She was rewarded a Ph.D. with the thesis Fremd und Eigen. Christlicher Sakralbau in Japan seit 1853 [The Other and the Own. Christian Church Architecture in Japan since 1853], which was inspired by her on-site experiences while teaching in Tokyo.

Since 2011 she has been working on her postdoc research about “Exoticism constructed - The writings on Japanese Architecture as a cultural negotiation of knowledge.” Since 2013, she is a postdoctoral fellow and head of the research group Urban Systems in East Asia at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Her postdoctoral research is focused on the transcultural exchange of architectural knowledge between Japan and the West, as examined from a meta-level. The study focuses on writings about Japanese architecture, from the latter part of the 19th c. onwards, thus analysing research interests, social networks and the formation of distinct fields of academic specialization. She was also a research assistant for Sächsische Geschichte und Volkskunde e. V. in Dresden. Since 2006, she has been giving numerous lectures in Japan, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland and Australia.  

Education

• Ph.D. in History of Art with dissertation “The Other and the Own. Christian Church Architecture in Japan since 1853”, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany, 2009.
• M.A., Medieval History, History of Art, History of Economics and Society, TU Dresden, 2002.
• Dipl.-Ing. (FH), Engineering (Architecture), University of Applied Studies in Potsdam, 1997.

KHK Fellowship

Duration: April to September 2017