Design Build

About

This Summer School project focuses on using drawing and model making methods to design and construct a small building project. Each project serves a social purpose; in previous years, we have worked on schools, kindergardens, and refugee shelters.

The Design-Build project focusses on the design and construction of a small building project for a needy community in Berlin. The students will develop an idea from the design stage to the built project. An examination of the context and discussions with the clients and users will form the basis for the final design. In a competitive design workshop, the best and most feasible solution(s) will be selected and developed. In collaboration with the users and under the guidance of a craftsman, the design will be built and inaugurated.

The community will be our clients for this Design-Build project. The clients will actively participate in guiding the project from the design phase to on-site construction. This project will be carried out in an academic environment, engaging in interdisciplinary collaboration between students of various disciplines and the community. Through designing and building together, the students will get insights into the world that the people they are designing for are facing. Besides enormous gains in professional knowledge our goal is to make students more sensitive to the social, cultural and ecological implications of their work.

The challenge will be integrate "low-cost" and "high efficiency" requirements with considerations for sustainability, aesthetics, appropriateness, participation and education. In order to profit from the high potential of these small-scale projects the focus has to be placed on the quality of the space that is created. Design decisions and implementation therefore needs to be made precisely and carefully.

The selection of an appropriate project site is currently under review. We will announce the final details of the project towards the end of March.

The design-build part of the project will be run similar to previous Summer University projects:

Draw-Design-Build: Kindergarten Villa Honighut
Draw-Design-Build: Schule Am Teltowkanal Revisited
Draw-Design-Build: Schule Am Teltowkanal
Scharfenberg Island
Refugio Cafè

Important: This course will primarily take place off the university campus, with construction activities conducted on-site. Participants will engage in intensive building work under the guidance of a professional craftsman.

During the course, students will learn how to use the necessary tools and materials (e.g., power tools for cutting and drilling, hand tools for cleaning and painting). They will also be shown how to assemble the constructions.

This project will run by the Open Space Collective, TU Berlin (www.dbxchange.eu/node/485).

Course leader

Simon Colwill – Landscape Architect, Florian Zwangsleitner – Landscape Architect, Fariborz Rahimi-Nedjat –Architect

Target group

The course is aimed at students who want to gain creative and practical knowledge through designing and making.

This course is particularly suitable for students of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design, Engineering, Sociology and any other interested individuals who are willing to leave the boundaries of their desks, and conquer real life scenarios.

Course aim

The participants will develop their creative, practical and professional skills through creative experimentation and the process of making.

-Development of design, detailing and material knowledge
-Basic understanding of project management
-Developing skills in craftsmanship
-Training verbal and visual presentation skills

Fee info