Ana Džokić is an architect and one of two principals of STEALTH.unlimited, a practice based between Rotterdam and Belgrade, set up in 2000 with Marc Neelen. STEALTH is regarded one of the internationally acclaimed protagonists pointing to the responsibilities and capacities of architecture in contemporary societies, moving beyond neoliberal enclosure and monetization of space. They connect fields of urban research, spatial interventions, curatorship and spatial activism. In 2017, Ana received her PhD at Lund University and the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm, with the practice-based research Upscaling, Training, Commoning (Jovis Publishers, May 2018). The research traces STEALTH’s engagements following the 2008 financial crisis – to reframe architecture practice, to rethink economy through collective citizen’s capacity and create urban commons. Ana studied architecture at the University of Belgrade (1998) and the Berlage Institute, Amsterdam (2000).
Within STEALTH, she has put emphasis on developing skills to bring groups of people (from different backgrounds) together to activate thinking about their future urban environment. This involves mediation, activation, and building unusual and sometimes provocative coalitions. In this respect, Ana co-initiated Ko gradi grad (http://www.kogradigrad.org/ Who Builds the City, 2010) association in Belgrade and within it the long-term community based housing project Smarter Building. She is a core member of Stad in de Maak (http://www.stadindemaak.nl/ City in the Making, 2013) association in Rotterdam that, through a ten-year process, tackles the “toxic assets” of stranded Dutch welfare housing. Stad in de Maak has been recipient of the 2016 Job Dura Award and is a selected contributor to 2018-2020 International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam. Within their curatorial and research projects STEALTH have made numerous contributions (Dutch Pavilion at the International Architecture Biennale Venice, 2008; Tirana Biannual, 2009; Impakt Festival Utrecht, 2010; Evento Bordeaux, 2011; Cittadellarte/Fondazione Pistoletto, 2012; Vienna Biennale, 2015). Ana contributed to and co-edited (with Marc Neelen) a range of articles and publications on urbanism and architecture, focussing on urban development, spatial practices and citizens’ contributions to the future of their cities.