Architecture is Climate: Reconstructing the Curriculum

The project will develop a research-based digital module "Architecture is Climate: Reconstructing the Curriculum'. Together with TU Braunschweig's strategic partners and other international experts, this module will address architecture and climate disruption across multiple geographical scales. The aim is to develop a common climate module that establishes a collaborative platform among our university partners to address the systemic changes that climate breakdown demands of dominant spatial practices and architectural education. The material produced over the six months would be used to create a common pedagogical glossary with multimedia components that could be used to structure courses or workshops.

The premise of the new module is that architecture can make an important contribution to addressing fundamental environmental and societal challenges of the present and future. While the science is clear - and the calls for change in building practices are growing louder - there is little systematic teaching of the concrete interrelationships of these issues in the field of architecture. In this context, the module (seminar, bachelor/master) will provide students with knowledge about contemporary sustainability discourses and building practices in relation to the challenges posed by the climate emergency.

The module will be conceptually developed by staff of the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture and the City (GTAS) at the TU Braunschweig together with collaborators from NTUA Athens, ETSAM Madrid, the Academy of Architecture Amsterdam, the Politecnico di Torino and others The emphasis is on leaving behind the 'ivory tower' of education and consciously and intensely connecting with a variety and range of practices, institutions, organisations as well as social movements and initiatives - nationally, at EU level and internationally.