Design Sprint on ‚The Circular University‘

October 9 – 13, 2017. Initiating a design workshop according to specific methods is interesting in two perspectives. On the one side, it offers an opportunity to tackle challenges, which have not be in focus so far. On the other side, it is a testing ground to evaluate fast-track design methods in its applicability, usefulness and use for architectural education. Especially in times when new forms of collaboration and co-creation are sought after, to cope with open problems, and interdisciplinarity is required to gain different perspectives on a topic, the question arises, if architectural students are sufficiently prepared, and how they would act in processes like these.

The “Design Sprint on Circular University” is the first in a series of four workshops, where we want to not only challenge a specific task but moreover evaluate our hypothesis, that architects can work very effectively in new formats of innovation and create promising outcomes. The skill set of architectural students can leverage design sprints and other formats if involved more. The series of workshops is embedded in an Erasmus+ project funded by the EU for Strengthening Architecture and Built Environment Research (SABRE). It is a first approach to test and improve capabilities in architectural education in order to create a new mindset and open up new career paths in creative industries.

The BauHow5 alliance together with renowned Allmann Sattler Wappner Architekten and Swiss company Vitra invited over
40 students and researchers in architecture and beyond. The challenge was to approach circularity from where we learn to design and research and to raise the question, how a ‘Circular University’ would look like in all its possible dimensions? It was an exceptional week of discussions, work and concepts. It was an insightful week, how fast-track design methods are adapted, what speaks for them, and what does not. And we captured the week in this documentation.

Organization: Christos Chantzaras, Yolande Hoogendoorn, Martin Luce, Andreas Marx

This event is part of the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership project „Strengthening Architecture and Built Environment research, funded by the EU.

Report

Please click here to access the report of this event.