Architectural Education for a Post-Fossil Future

Abstract

The transformation to a post-fossil future will require us to radically rethink the way that we live, build, consume and educate. Currently in Europe the construction sector is responsible for nearly 40% of direct and indirect CO2 emissions [1] and 30% of waste [2] generated. With these numbers only increasing, young designers will carry a huge responsibility for reducing the sector’s impact on the environment. Yet in many cases architectural education continues to place form-making in the centre of the curriculum at the expense of an understanding of the complexities of planning in a post-fossil future.Since its inception in 2017, the Natural Building Lab (NBL) at the Technische Universität Berlin has been exploring new methods of architectural education with the premise that new models and formats are needed in order to equip young designers with the tools they will need to affect change in a rapidly changing, globalised society. The projects undertaken by the Lab up till now have put an emphasis on self-determined learning as the vehicle to involve students proactively in urban-change processes. The first built projects from the Lab, while in diverse contexts, all combine circular, LowTech construction principles with the performance of natural building materials to produce a vision for a post-fossil architecture, often designed and realised by students in trans-disciplinary collaborations. The paper will look at the challenges facing architectural educators and how the Natural Building Lab is aiming to frame its pedagogic strategy based on the realities of resource scarcity and climate change.