Course Description
The design of the built environment is key to addressing pressing global challenges such as climate change, environmental degradation, resource scarcity, migration, and social injustice. Central to building a fairer, safer, and greener future is an understanding of sustainability. This elective seminar invites students to explore sustainability in architecture and urban design.
The course provides a comprehensive historical foundation, examining how traditional vernacular design can inform and inspire contemporary sustainable practices. Students will explore the ecological, economic, political, cultural, and social factors that have shaped the built environment over time and across regions. Understanding these precedents is crucial for developing future sustainable designs.
Shifting to the present, students will critically assess theoretical frameworks and practical strategies for sustainability. Through close readings of texts, live input from contemporary practitioners, and detailed analyses of buildings and urban spaces, students will investigate forwardlooking projects such as zero-energy and zero-waste settlements, alongside the role of green technologies and evolving sustainability legislation.
Working in groups or individually, students will develop their own approaches to sustainability by designing interventions for selected sites in the Netherlands and beyond.
By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the tools and knowledge to evaluate architecture and urban design through the lens of sustainability, preparing them to tackle these challenges in their own architectural practice.
