Originating in 18th century England, the landscape garden and its architectural features had a profound impact on subsequent architectural thought. The Folly, the Belvedere, the Grotto: They are pure architectures without utilitarian use. The only purpose of the Folly is to create a sense of place, to define an architectural and spatial specificity within the garden. At the same time, the Folly embodies a longing for an Arcadian landscape long past, for an ideal world that never existed. As such, these structures are manifestations of a cultural debate that questions the very foundations, aims and possibilities of society and cultural development.

The idea of the folly has been interpreted on the architectural scale a number of times through history, from the first Arches at Stowe Gardens in 1727 to the Parc de la Villette in Paris (Bernard Tschumi, 1983) and countless others.

We will explore the architectural typology of the folly through research, discussion and design sketches. In addition, we will take fieldtrips to two very well-known examples of follies right in the vicinity of the Bauhaus: The “Dessau-Wörlitz” Gardens and the “Pfaueninsel” in Berlin.

A critical look at the current fate of modernism, brutalism and socialist architecture.

All over Europe we are faced with a phenomenon of disappearing architectures and urban ensembles. Even widely acclaimed and outstanding examples of Modernism are being torn down to make way for neohistoricist structures, completely preserved and working ensembles are being brutally ravaged through “densification” and “recontextualisation”.

Are these new trends more than just the ugly face of new reactionary politics translated into the built sphere, manifestations of nationalism and revisionism, or are they the necessary by-products of societies in the process of defining a new role for themselves in a rapidly changing world order?

We will research examples of modernist and brutalist architectures that are being rebuilt or replaced to reflect current historicist trends.

A series of lectures will explore this subject on a theoretical level. Students will prepare case studies and present these to the group. A graphic synopsis (1 Image) of the individual case study will be exhibited in an end-of semester-event at an art venue in Berlin.

The concept of the narrative has a long tradition in architectural discourse. The elective starts with a hypothesis, namely that the concept lies at the very core of what we do: embedding architecture in its social, political and philosophical context is essentially a narrative function.

The manifestations of this concept, however, are myriad and as sharply divergent as architecture itself. We will look at a number of examples across architectural history and will analyze these to discover links that transcend formal boundaries.

We will look at obvious examples such as the powerful narratives of church and synagogue design, the equally readable historicist attempts of Victorian and “Wilhelminian” architects to connect to supposedly linear narratives, and of course the idealizations of revolutionary architecture in France as well as the idea of the folly and the English landscape garden. Yet, we will also delve into the work of Lebbeus Woods, Archigram, Alexander Brodsky and many others.

The elective is very much an exploratory course that might well result in a realization that the hypothesized connectivity between the narrative qualities surveyed is not, after all, as strong as assumed at the beginning. As the Physicist Richard Feynman once famously said, it’s about “the pleasure of finding things out”.

The elective will be divided into three parts: A series of lectures by myself to introduce the subject, including some guests who will speak to their own work and/or research on the subject. This is interspersed with case studies presented by students. Finally, a graphic result will be produced that is then presented at the end of the semester in a small exhibition at an art venue in Berlin. For the presentation we will have guest judges.

Time constraints for the case study and graphic presentations mandate a restriction to a total of 20 participants. Excellent knowledge of the english language is a big plus for this elective…!

The elective will examine contributions made to architectural practice and thought by protagonists from outside the formal profession of architecture.
These range from the Gentlemen Architects of the 18th century to buildings designed by contemporary artists, the vaguely „architecture parlante“ structures first celebrated by Robert Venturi and many others.
We will focus on the construction of personal utopias and examine their social, geographic, political and historic context. Many of the examples that spring to mind are comical, many have elements of the grotesque, many have stage-like qualities of surreality. And yet, contributions to architecture from outside the established realm of the profession have often had a profound impact on both theory and practice, unhampered as they are by preconceived notions of „proper“ methodology and aesthetic language.
We will investigate examples of particular import and analyze their influence on the built environment and on current discourse.
Students will prepare individual case studies and present these in a series of lectures. At the end of the elective, graphic results will be presented at a small public exhibition at an art venue in Berlin.

The elective will examine contributions made to architectural practice and thought by protagonists from outside the formal profession of architecture.
These range from the Gentlemen Architects of the 18th century to buildings designed by contemporary artists, the vaguely „architecture parlante“ structures first celebrated by Robert Venturi and many others.
We will focus on the construction of personal utopias and examine their social, geographic, political and historic context. Many of the examples that spring to mind are comical, many have elements of the grotesque, many have stage-like qualities of surreality. And yet, contributions to architecture from outside the established realm of the profession have often had a profound impact on both theory and practice, unhampered as they are by preconceived notions of „proper“ methodology and aesthetic language.
We will investigate examples of particular import and analyze their influence on the built environment and on current discourse.
Students will prepare individual case studies and present these in a series of lectures. At the end of the elective, graphic results will be presented at a small public exhibition at an art venue in Berlin

Dancing is a cultural, social and artistic expression as old as humanity itself. In this semesters‘ elective, we will examine the evolution of dedicated spaces revolving around dance. We will trace the beginnings of spatial and architectural specificity in spaces for dancing on both an urban and architectural level. We will examine the social, political and economic context of these spaces at the time of their creation and will seek out similarities and disparities among a wide spread of cultures and geographic areas. The elective is very much an exploratory course about a subject not yet researched widely. As the Physicist Richard Feynman once famously said, it‘s about “the pleasure of finding things out”. While clearly a typological research, past electives have shown that the presentation of case studies from the wide array of cultures mirroring our DIA student body has provided unique and fascinating insights that go far beyond the spatial and architectural realm. The elective will be divided into three parts: A few informal lectures by myself and one or two guest speakers to introduce the subject. The main body of the course are case studies presented by students. A field (day-)trip will be offered. Finally, a graphic result will be produced that is then presented at the end of the semester in a small exhibition at an art venue in Berlin. For the presentation we will have guest judges.

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

Every now and then, we all need a break. To unwind from the bustling city, people flock towards weekend homes, seaside cabins, cottages, or alpine refuges. And while the urban and prosperous parts of the European continent keep being densified and suburbanized, some of its rather remote regions are returning to the wild.
This studio sets out to design recreational places within these abandoned and forgotten places. However, other than simply building new retreats in untouched landscapes, we will identify existing and neglected architectures as anchors for our projects. We will measure them and analyse the specific materials, as well as architectural details that characterize them. Equally important will be their setting.
Especially in Europe, scarcely populated regions are often natural reserves of one kind or another. We will evaluate the sensitivity of these environments and define touristic potentials and compatible programs accordingly. With little industry, oftentimes crumbling infrastructure, and the young moving away, many remote regions turn to tourism as an important source of income. We will thus – on a larger scale – look into the economics of various forms of tourism and their repercussion with the preservation of natural environments. We will explore appropriate modes of access, required levels of comfort, and degrees of maintenance. We will also think through the difficult logistics of building in remote locations, from the sourcing and delivery of materials to their assembly on site.

Selected Students:

As things, structures, buildings, industries, even ideas disappear, they either leave a void or are replaced by something else. Often, the disappearance of one is a necessary prerequisite for the emergence of another, at other times the emergence of the new initiates or hastens the decline of the old.

The phenomenon of replacement and of disappearance is one with which we are being continually confronted in a world where the frontiers lie within, where the speed of change seems to be steadily increasing. Yet there is a disparity between the rapidity of social, technological and economic change and the physical and built environment. As the immaterial evolves faster and faster, the physical reality and those concerned with constructing it are challenged to formulate strategies that will keep pace.

As architects, we will be challenged more and more to reconcile the broken fabric of reality left by the disappearance of structures once deemed solid with the demands of not only our present, but of a prognosticated future. This is the basis of our studio.

Disappearances we will study and whose implications we will translate into the architectural realm will be diverse and span a wide range of phenomena, from the decline of industries that leave entire waterfronts fallow, from the disappearance of political units that give rise to new borders and the structures and buildings occasioned by their appearance to the disappearance of supposedly essential needs and structures made obsolete by advancing technology and social change.

Our studio will challenge students to identify and thoroughly research such phenomena to a point where a solution can be formulated in the architectural realm. Students are expected to take a very personal and individual stance on solving problems of both local and universal significance.

Selected Students: Sasa Ciabatti, Christian Zammit, Tijana Savic

All over the world right now, enormous migratory processes are taking place. They are driven by many different factors, yet they are all connected by one facet: The search and hope for a better environment, an environment that will provide the essentials associated with a humane existence: Freedom from hunger, war, oppression and the chance to live peacefully and with dignity.
For many of these needs, architectural thought and architectural interventions find themselves powerless to a large degree. However, as we as a society are faced with defining the framework of what exactly defines the essentials of human dignity, of essential components of social contracts, we as architects should also examine the idea of necessity and its architectural meanings and possibilities.
The idea of necessity is not connected to this social contract in a direct way. In the studio, we will identify essential elements and functions in both the built and social environment and analyze their genesis, context and characteristics.
Necessity implies the presence of absolute values, of fundamental and unalterable essentiality. It is this essentiality that we will be seeking out and will translate in the thesis projects on a functional, contextual, social and mostly, a spatial level.
You will be challenged to define the idea of “Necessity” on a very personal level. The scale and scope of the projects can vary a good deal and will largely depend on the research results. However, the focus of the studio will definitely be on spatial quality over size.
The studio will undertake two excursions, a short, small one (domestic) in the fall semester and a collectively researched and prepared one in the spring semester.

Selected Students: Eleonora Popovska, Tijana Vuckovic