Draw-Design-Build: Schule am Teltowkanal

As part of TU Berlin’s Summer University program, 16 students of diverse academic and professional backgrounds spent two weeks learning and co-working on the course “Draw-Design-Build”, dedicated to the transformative challenge of revitalising the grounds of a Berlin primary school.

This is a micro-scale design-build project that aims to deliver maximum benefits for all stakeholders within a minimum budget.

The program is designed to deeply engage participants in Design, emphasising social responsibility while nurturing the growth of their creative, practical, and professional skills through hands-on drawing, designing and making. The primary educational objective of this course is to cultivate insightful decision-makers who are deeply aware of the imperative to proactively contribute to the creation of a balanced living environment - socially, culturally and environmentally. This endeavour aims not only to educate, but to stimulate a committed awareness of the need to promote sustainable communities for the future.

The course is based on an analogue, hands-on approach to project development, starting from the initial site analysis, through the design processes, to the construction process itself - namely Draw, Design, Build. 

The "Clients"
The school approached us with the task of creating more social areas for the children on the rundown grounds of the school. They expressed a need for outdoor meeting spaces where staff could take classes during the school day and where children could retreat to in their free time. The school children made sketches in art class of ideas for the improvements they wished to make, the elements and their locations as a basis for our design process.

The process: 
Discussions with clients and users form the foundation of the project, initiating a creative dialogue that guides the design process from conception to completion. The students then immerse themselves in learning sketch analysis and design development techniques, rooted in design thinking and innovative idea generation. Subsequently, they were then introduced to the project site through sketching, analyzing its characteristics, and studying the textures and spatial qualities that define the space. This thorough examination of the context, combined with ongoing discussions with clients and users, lays a solid groundwork for the design process. 

These exploratory activities, together with an analysis of user needs and the site's deficiencies and potentials, lead to the development of initial design ideas through on-site sketching and hands-on model making. Through a collaborative effort with the users, teachers, students and a skilled craftsman, the design was then built and inaugerated. This process not only demonstrates the practical application of theoretical knowledge, but also emphasises the importance of user-centred design and teamwork in bringing sustainable architectural concepts to life.

Project management consisted of a continuous dialogue between all stakeholders, from the school pupils, principal and teachers, to the carpenter, university staff and the students.

To Be Continued...

As a result of the successful completion of the project and the establishment of an effective network, we are considering a second Draw-Design-Build course at the same location in the near future.

Technical Description