852304 Design workshop

Type
Project course
Semester hours
2
Lecturer (assistant)
Prager, Ina , Stecher, Emilie
Organisation
Offered in
Wintersemester 2024/25
Languages of instruction
Englisch, Deutsch
Content

Scenarios for the Alps without Snow – How to use Scenario construction for design and research

Global warming is accelerating at an ever faster speed, bringing with it many uncertainties. Although we know we need to act quickly, the uncertainty of the future can be overwhelming and paralyse action. One way of breaking free from this state of inaction is to make use of our ability to reimagine. By investigating different methods of scenario thinking and storytelling, the course will teach you how to use imagination in design and research to create new narratives for the future in an extreme climate and foster change.

In a one-week workshop setting, we will critically investigate one of our most challenged and changing landscapes – the Alps.

Through global warming, the Alps are changing their form rapidly. Glaciers are melting, and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent. Water plays an essential role in the Alps. Their valleys have been shaped by millennials of glacial movements, and with their disappearance, the Alpine landscape is inevitably altered. Through this transition formerly imposed infrastructures are becoming obsolete. Vast skiing resorts are losing their fundamental base of existence. Hydropower plants are running out of water.

In the course, we will follow the traces of water. What does it mean if there will be no snow in the mountains anymore? Will the production of artificial snow come to a halt with increasing demand for its energy production, and will there be a change in mindset that goes beyond economic profit? In the design workshop, we will investigate new possibilities for these transitioning landscapes and imagine places of coexistence between humans and more-than-human entities. The course aims to reconceptualise what it means to be human and how design thinking can positively impact life on our shared planet.

Date of design workshop: 04.11.2024 - 08.11.2024. Core working hours Monday to Friday 9:00 to 17:00. Compulsory attendance.
Previous knowledge expected

The workshop is open to students of the Master programme Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning.
Expected skills are knowledge of designing, CAD, GIS and techniques for visualization.
The course will be held in English and German.
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

After the course, the students will be able to:
- Apply scenario construction methods to their study area
- Identify drivers of change in the transitioning Alpine landscapes
- Position themselves as political agents through design
- Critically reflect on their design process
- Enhance their storytelling capacities through different forms of media
- Develop a critical and reflective attitude towards the current landscape urbanism, landscape architecture and landscape planning practice
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.