Curriculum Vitae 

Aycan Kizilkaya is an external lecturer and postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Integrated Product Design at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). She holds a PhD in Interior Architecture, with a dissertation investigating audience-performance-space relationships in alternative theatre spaces, including site-specific performances and digital theatre practices.

After completing her bachelor's degree in Architecture, she pursued the International Master of Interior Architectural Design (IMIAD) at Istanbul Technical University and Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart. Her master’s thesis explored design critique, perception, and discourse through a human-centered design lens. During her studies, she contributed to design exhibitions, hands-on workshops, and experiential events in Germany. In 2017, she completed the ATHENS Program at Politecnico di Milano on Modern Interior Architecture: Case Studies and Historiography. She has worked for several years as a research and teaching assistant in the International Master of Interior Architectural Design Program, actively participating in symposiums, interdisciplinary research projects, international workshops, and design studio teaching. She was awarded a Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship and joined the Institute of Interior Design and Scenography at FHNW in Basel as a visiting scholar, where she took part in performance studies courses and artistic performative experiments and video productions. She also conducted a one-year research project on adaptive reuse and spatial transformation tactics at the Chair of REUSED at TUM. Currently, her postdoctoral research at the Chair focuses on workspace design, biophilic strategies, and interior environments that enhance focus and well-being.

In parallel to her academic career, Aycan is an active member of a professional theatre group, where she engages in acting, scenography, visual storytelling, and playwriting. 

Research Focus

Interior Design, Performance Design & Scenography, Adaptive Re-use of Existing Buildings, Workspace Design, and Design Studios  

Teaching

• IPD Project Summer 2024: The Tiny Homeoffice
• IPD Project Summer 2025: Corporate Workspace
• IPD Seminar Winter 2025: DaMitt Symposium

Contacts

aycan.kizilkaya@tum.de