Valentin Götze - Portfolio 2026

Sami

INTRO

About Me

I am an urban planner who is open-minded and curious about people from all backgrounds. I am fascinated by how we interact with our built environment and would like to contribute to making cities more livable for their residents. Urban design, landscape architecture and social sustainability are particularly close to my heart.

connect with me on LinkedIn

Contact valentin.goetzeOl@Iive.com Portfolio

LinkedIn +49 1522 6287366 Schlosskirchplatz l, 03046 Cottbus born 2001 in Berlin

CV

Experience

2025Cottbus, GER

2024-2025 Cottbus, GER

2024 Windhoek, NAM

Education

2024Cottbus, GER

2021-2024

Cottbus, GER

2019-2021 Chicago, USA

2017-2019 Chicago, USA

Languages Strengths Skills

Deutsch English Español

Work Student (at Economic Development Agency Cottbus)

Work Student/TA (at Department of Landscape Architecture)

INTERN

(at GIZ & Stubenrauch Planning Consultants)

M.Sc. Urban Planning and Urban Design (at Brandenburg University of Technology)

B.Sc. Urban Planning and Urban Design (at Brandenburg University of Technology)

Associate Degree (Focus on Urban Studies) (at Loyola University Chicago)

High School Diploma (study abroad) (at New Trier High School)

Adobe Suite Vectorworks Rhino ArcGIS native C2 B2

spatial analysis team collaboration visual communication

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Frankfurter Allee Süd

2

BERLIN

Internship in Namibia

3

WINDHOEK

1 Freiladebahnhof Ost

Type: Urban Design

Location: Leipzig

Course: Design Studio WiSe 2024/25

// Prof. Verena Schmidt

Collaborators: Swaleha Fatima, Sheraz Muhammad

Introduction: The former Freiladebahnhof Ost in Leipzig is already an exciting place where commercial and (sub)cultural uses come together. In the context of ongoing urban growth, the area is to be further developed and densified into a mixeduse district. Superordinate structures such as the planned park arch and diverse urban trends in the Eisenbahnstraße area play a role here. How can the Freiladebahnhof develop its special character and become a place for everyone? Long-time residents and newcomers, migrant and middle-class milieus, squatters and young creatives, residents and workers. We investigated how the area can remain a place of club culture and (cultural) production and at the same time offer space for new forms of housing, social interaction and ecological green spaces.

Goal of the project: The task will be to develop an urban design concept on the scale of the neighborhood and to draft an urban/architectural design for a mixed-use building typology.

„building on the built“

„decentralized & flexible ecosystem“

Design Concept:

Our urban design revitalization proposal for the site focuses on a conceptual evolution that blends historical reverence with modern innovation. We aim to revive the hidden biodiversity of the area and transform it into a creative hub for the city. Our approach includes redensification through multi-story housing with shared green spaces and corridors, promoting sustainable shared mobility options for residents, workers or visitors within future Freiladebahnhof Ost.

We propose revitalizing roots with creativity by repurposing older buildings into workspaces for artists, designers, and entrepreneurs, thus embracing rather than erasing history. This blending of old and new will involve keeping visible elements of the past while integrating sustainable designs that meet contemporary needs.

Our plan emphasizes community and social interaction with spaces designed for local events, markets, art installations, and gatherings to foster a vibrant, diverse neighborhood culture. Our plan includes a variety of green space typologies ranging from sprawling parks to small green pockets along small alleyways. At the heart of the site sits a central plaza, which combines social and functional needs. Here the renaturalized creek (Rietzschke) opens up into an urban water basin, framed by steps, allowing people to cool off. Rooftop gardens and green facades, will soften the industrial landscape, connecting residents to nature.

2 Frankfurter Allee Süd

Type: Urban Design

Location: Berlin

Course: Design Studio SoSe 2024

// Prof. Verena Schmidt

Collaborators: Phillip Vogt

Goal of the project: Taking into account the surrounding urban areas, the aim of the design work is to develop a sustainable urban quarter that integrates spatially into the context and connects with adjacent urban and open spaces.

In line with current topics in sustainable urban development, the area is to be developed as a future-proof urban building block.

Taking into account the specifics of the location, the connection to the context, the identification and integration of significant existing structures, we developed innovative typologies for living and working. the programming of public open spaces, as well as the consideration of traffic flow and the history of the location.

Appropriate proposals regarding, among other things, grain size, density, and design quality of the built and public open space will be developed as part of the urban design and open space design.

Design Concept:

Repeated flooding, such as that seen in 2019 as a result of heavy rainfall, requires a rethink in how we deal with rainwater. To combat the effects of heavy rainfall, it is important to strengthen green-blue infrastructure.

Water accumulations are collected along their typical flow directions before flooding can occur. This is done via retention basins in the north of the area along Frankfurter Allee. The water can slowly seep away. Species planted specifically in the basins benefit from the rainwater that accumulates. At the same time, these basins create habitats for endangered species in moist green spaces and provide aesthetic benefits for people. Along the row buildings, excess rainwater can be discharged into near-natural infiltration ditches, where native wild plants from wet and dry locations grow together in a gravel bed.

Where possible, extensive and intensive roof greening and façade greening contribute to a cooler and cleaner microclimate and prevent heat islands. Open spaces and squares can also absorb rainwater via a lowered topography. Overall, this creates a coherent rainwater network.

Retentionsmulden Retentionsmulden

3 Urban Planning Internship Namibia

Type: Urban Planning / Urban Design Location: Windhoek, Namibia Internship: GIZ (ISUD II Project) & SPC (Stubenrauch Planning Consultants)

I had an internship at two different institutions in Windhoek, Namibia: My internship was made possible by the cooperation between Stubenrauch Planning Consultants (SPC), an urban planning office in Windhoek, and the “ISUD II” (Inclusive and Sustainable Urban Development) project run by GIZ (German Society for International Cooperation). The internship was based at SPC, but through their cooperation with ISUD II, I was also able to learn about their work.

This gave me an intensive and varied insight into current urban planning issues in Namibia. Above all I am grateful to have worked in a crosscultural setting. I learned that community development requires patience, persuasion, and strong communication to guide urbanization in a bottom-up approach.

Project I: Urban PlanningInformal Settlement

Agricultural

Recreational

Commercial

Mixed Use

Institutional

Cultural

Sports

Settlement outline

Important Node

Informal trade

Flood protection

Containing sprawl

Type: Urban Planning

Location: Windhoek/Opuwo, Namibia

Internship: GIZ (ISUD II Project)

Collaborators: Martin Namupala, Thomas Haenert, Gerald Titus

Goal of the project: In Namibia, rapid urbanization creates facts before planning can respond. Public services and infrastructure can‘t keep up with the current population growth. Occupants of the settlements lack secure land rights and live in poor conditions. To tackle this, the “ISUD II” project advises its partners on participatory and integrated urban development.

My main task was creating the economic sector framework plan for the integrated urban development concept of Opuwo.

A four-day work trip to Helao Nafidi and Opuwo revealed: participation and integrated urban development have yet to be implemented – interaction, accessibility, and operator concepts determine success. Walks, mappings, and conversations with residents and local planning stakeholders opened my eyes to precarious living conditions and the need to maintain knowledge networks to ensure long-term participation.

Project II:

Urban PlanningBeach Town Community

Type: Urban Planning

Location: Windhoek, Namibia

Internship: SPC (Stubenrauch Planning Consultants)

Collaborators: Günther Stubenrauch, Ancke Van Staden, Pombili Iipumbu

At SPC, I created two urban design proposals (precinct maps) for the small beach town community of Henties Bay. The maps were needed as components of an integrated urban development concept the office developed for the community. I was fortunate to see my contributions be discussed with representatives of the municipal planning commission.

I applied principles of sustainable and functional urban development from my studies to the local context. Exchanges with colleagues provided new perspectives and insights into residents’ living conditions and needs. Thus, we proposed a „shop+house“ concept, as seen in the diagram, which adresses specific local questios around securing land rights, access to income opportunities or the role of public space.

During the internship my understanding of urban planning gained a strong international dimension.

Stage 1:

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Stage 2:

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Bonus

architecture

model making