The river environments of the Spree and the Mississipi are two focus areas identified for the projects of the KE format. The long-term interactions between humans and water along rivers will be analyzed and discussed as catchment areas for ecological, technological, industrial and social realities. Topics of spatio-temporal transformations like mobility, pollution, and resource extraction will be looked at as water culture that is both human and non-human in order to inform future oriented design projects.

The KE will engage with these topics in active design research. Students will prepare presentations on the context and thematic content of their project interest. The KE format also integrates a mandatory intensive workshop week in Berlin from 9-16th of Feb. 2019 in cooperation with a parallel studio from the University of Pennsylvania.

During the workshop week, design projects will be brainstormed and developed in groups and partner work. Additional informative input will come from invited lectures and excursions into Berlin’s history and interaction between water and architecture.