English

SS-2014

The idea of “Longing” implies the search for something we do not have or know yet identify as desirable. It can be applied to very abstract terms like “Justice” and “Freedom” or the vague longing for “ a better world”, be it the “Arcadia” of the past or a “Utopia” of the future, but also to much more concrete and immediate individual concerns. It is a concept that emanates from the individual.

“Belonging”, on the other hand, is a concept tied to a place, a group, a collective identity.

In the globalized world, the implications involved in a discourse of these concepts are increasingly important. The individual values assigned to the terms “longing” and “belonging” differ sharply across various cultures and, indeed, from individual to individual. They are at once universal in character and highly specific in content.

The project will concentrate on a specific site in Berlin. Students will develop an individual program, this will revolve around facets of residential and community use.

An integral part of the conceptual approach is your own definition of longing and belonging, i.e. your personal and unique desires, dreams and utopias. How can we translate the personal into the universal quality of architectural space? How can the universal and abstract be translated into architectural specificity?

Conceptual keywords that will form the basis of our discussions include the notions of specificity, migration, identity, the “genius loci”, inclusion, the diaspora, Arcadia and the idea of Utopia, connectivity and separation, etc.

Selected Students: Sasa Ciabatti, Alexine Sammut, Alex Palmer,  Anastasija Protic, Dimas Satria