Future Curricula Circuit Training – Summer School at the New School of Architecture in Siegen, September 9–15, 2026
At the fourth Summer School of the Neue Architekturschule Siegen, taking place from September 9 to 15, 2026, we will focus on the future of architectural education. Architecture is in a state of transition: Amid the climate crisis, resource scarcity, social tensions, and new forms of collective knowledge production, the meaning of building is changing—and with it, what architectural education must achieve in the future.
The Summer School is taking place at a unique institutional juncture. With the New School of Architecture in Siegen, the Department of Architecture is currently reinventing itself. Questions regarding curriculum, teaching formats, role models, and institutional structures are part of an ongoing transformation process that we are actively shaping together with students, faculty, and external guests.
The Summer School “Future Curricula Circuit Training” views the curriculum not as a set of administrative rules, but as a subject of collective negotiation. As planning increasingly becomes a cultural practice of building upon, repairing, mediating, and collaborating, it is not enough to simply adapt content. We are seeking new teaching formats, institutional flexibility, and new forms of collaborative learning.
The concept of circuit training serves as our guiding theme: Through a series of stations and discussion forums, we collectively explore questions regarding professional roles, power and hierarchy, competencies and pedagogy, as well as self-organization and institutional transformation—in workshops, lectures, a podcast studio, dinner discussions, and informal roundtable conversations.
Participants include, among others, Saskia Hebert ( subsolar architecture & urban research), Lidia Gasperoni ( The Bartlett School of Architecture, London), Diana Lucas-Drogan (Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development), Matthew Crabbe & Selina Schlez (Natural Building Lab, TU Berlin), and Teresa Immler & Lorenz Hahnheiser (nexture+). Rosalie Arendt (University of Twente), Angelika Hinterbrandner (Bauwende Allianz/ProjectTogether, Kontextur), and Norbert Palz (Berlin University of the Arts) are also expected to give presentations. In addition, the student initiative AU:34 e.V., the Architecture Student Council at Siegen University, and other initiatives are helping to shape the program and contributing perspectives on self-organization and institutional transformation to the discussion. In conjunction with the event, Sorana Radulescu and Katharina Lux from Baunetz Campus are setting up a podcast studio to capture the debates taking place at the Summer School.
Schedule
- September 9: Arrival and opening event
- September 10–12: Rotating workshops and evening discussions
- September 13: Reflection Day
- September 14–15: Work sessions, presentation, and closing event
- September 16: Departure
Participation
Participation is free of charge. A flat-rate meal fee of 75 euros will be charged. Accommodation is provided free of charge at the Neue Architekturschule Siegen; participants must bring their own sleeping bags and sleeping pads. Participants are responsible for arranging their own travel to and from the event.
Earning 3 ECTS credits for participation is recommended; the decision rests with the respective university.
Interested students from all universities may apply by email to summerschool@architektur.uni-siegen.de by July 31, 2026.
The application should include the following information:
- Name
- Semester
- University
- Address and contact information
- A brief statement of purpose (max. 250 words)
The event is organized by the New School of Architecture Siegen / Department of Architecture, School II – Education · Architecture · Arts at the University of Siegen.
For further inquiries: summerschool@architektur.uni-siegen.de
