From October 9-13 Christos Chantzaras, Andreas Marx from Technical University of Munich (TUM) and I from University Iuav of Venice ran the ‘The Circular University’ workshop. The topic of the workshop was to explore the concept of the circular economy in the building environment, especially in universities. To approach the quest for a ‘Circular University’, we decided on the method of a Design Sprint. The method, developed by google venture as the essence from hundreds of other applied approaches, is known to “solve big problems and test ideas in just five days”.

The challenge
Our challenge was complex and broad: What would a ‘Circular University’ look like in all its possible dimensions?

Day 1 – After having been welcomed through various talks about the topic of circularity within architecture, we got inspired to think wild and pitch ideas on how University can become circular. Using different methods, we concluded with the topic of changing the linear flow of knowledge to a circular one.

Day 2 – To strengthen our idea, we were researching comparable architectural projects that were realised and are known as a showcase project for innovative spaces.

Day 3 – The final concept was put into a storyboard to (1) understand different steps of our idea (2) understand the workflow and outcome of the idea (3) visualize all steps a stakeholder would go through within the process.

Day 4 – Prototyping various scenes respectively elements to demonstrate our concept. Preparing the presentation and the workflow how to present the topic of a circular flow of knowledge and it can be realised at TU of Munich.

Day 5 – Day of presentations to people, who were not connected to the workshop yet. We gained good insights and suggestions on how to make the concept more tangible.

To know more about the ‘The Circular University’ Design Sprint click here.