AOB took part in the research seminar Designing in a finite world: urbanism, architecture and resource-consciousness, hosted by iiTSE and OpenLab.brussels (ULB + VUB).   The seminar explored how architectural education can engage with existing materials, landscapes, and everyday spatial practices through fieldwork, observation, and resource-conscious design approaches. Discussions focused on learning from local contexts, reusing material resources, and strengthening place-based and environmentally responsible design practices in architectural pedagogy.
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Fall School 2026 – Redefining Architecture Through Collective Making   The 2026 edition of the Fall School is already taking shape. Following the spirit of previous collaborations, RWTH Aachen University, TU Wien and KU Leuven have committed to continuing this shared initiative. At the same time, we warmly welcome additional universities interested in joining with a dedicated group of students.   The program is primarily aimed at master’s and postgraduate students. Applications from bachelor groups may be considered to ensure a balanced and diverse cohort.     A Cross-Disciplinary Exchange   At its core, the Fall School is built on the conviction that tomorrow’s architectural challenges demand collective intelligence. Participants work in rotating, multidisciplinary teams, fostering continuous knowledge exchange across different academic backgrounds and cultural contexts.   Guided by architects, craftspeople, and researchers, students move beyond conventional studio teaching. Learning unfolds...
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In the framework of the Soil to Surface course, 35 students took part in a workshop at the Alwakan Project in Brussels on 15–16 January 2026. The course introduced ecological finishing techniques, with a focus on clay plaster.   Over two days, students combined short theory sessions with hands-on practice, exploring the properties, potentials, and ecological value of clay plasters.   A highlight of the workshop was its collaborative setting: participants worked alongside the Alwakan Project community, who are renovating their building collectively. This environment encouraged reflection on participatory construction and showed how working directly with materials can foster care and responsibility in shared spaces.   The workshop combined practical craft with ecological awareness, giving students the chance to work with natural materials and experience the value of building together.
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October School 2025 – Common Ground   Over the course of five intensive days in Brussels, 120 students, teachers, and practitioners from our chair Act of Building at RWTH Aachen—together with participants from the KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture, Building Beyond Borders, the Estonian Academy of Arts, and TU Wien—came together to explore what regenerative architecture can mean for the future of the built environment.   This international collaboration invited participants to rethink how we learn, how we build, and how we take responsibility for the materials that shape our world.   Learning Through Materials   Throughout the week, students engaged deeply with bio- and geo-sourced materials by way of visits, lectures, and three hands-on workshop tracks:   Atelier SITE engaged directly with real-scale construction through on-site experimentation. Participant learned to produce and apply earth-based materials to larger structures, using techniques such as plastering, light-earth wall infill,...
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Paludi Pavilions Wasserwerk der Zukunft, Malchin, Germany ,2025   In the summer semester of 2025, the Paludi Pavilion design-and-build workshop brought together Master’s students from RWTH Aachen and TU Munich to explore regenerative construction in the wetlands of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Led by Niklas Fanelsa, Theresa Zschäbitz, and Quentin Bourguignon, and in collaboration with the Greifswald Moor Centrum and Wasserwerk der Zukunft, the project focused on the use of Paludi materials: biomass resources from rewetted peatlands such as elder, reed, birch, willow, and grass. Over the course of the semester, students engaged with vernacular and experimental techniques, culminating in a one-week building workshop in Malchin where three timber pavilions were realized as open-air stages for the local Moortheater.   The workshop emphasized material-specific design, ecological cycles, and collective making. Students prototyped and constructed façade systems using braided grass, woven willow, pyrolyzed...
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HORST anthill pavilion Asiat Park, Vilvoorde, Belgium, 2024   The HORST Anthill Pavilion in Asiat Park, Vilvoorde, Belgium, was created for the Horst Arts and Music Festival. Designed to house Artist Afrah Shafiq’s video game installation ‘Where the Ants Go’ and the pavilion results from a collaboration between Afrah Shafiq, the RWTH Aachen University’s Junior Professorship “act of building” (aob), BC Materials and architect Jeremy Waterfield. The pavilion which was considered as a test design for BC Materials compressed earth blocks, also offered the opportunity to try reed as a façade material. Built by 45 RWTH students over two weeks of construction workshop in the framework of the annual Horst Ateliers, it showcases innovative, sustainable building practices in combination. The pavilion embodies a forward-thinking approach to architecture, merging vernacular techniques with new and rediscovered materials to create an expressive design that reflects future possibilities for sustainable...
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Science Day 2024 ALLIANCES curated by aob    ALLIANCES is the title of the upcoming Science Day 2024 organized by the recently established Junior Professorship of Construction and Design – “act of building” (aob).   Since many years we have been witnessing the surge of multiple crisis linked to the architecture field, ranging from the climate crisis to the housing crisis. These events have been in part shaping the architectural discourse and inspired the narrative of many present (and future) practices. The architectural society has been discussing and developing ideas in response to these challenges. How these responses are received depend heavily on political and market-driv- en agendas; architectural ideas for the future risk being limited in their implementation by outdated and systemic relations between humans and nature. New sorts of alliances must be set up in order to break this pattern.   The Science Day wishes to probe for alliances along 3 strategies which the chair of...
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Workshop week in the summer term 2023 The summer term workshop took place during the white week, from the 31st of May to 3rd of June. This year, three courses took part simultaneously: the bachelors’ as well as the masters’ elective course, and the students completing the year-long M2 project. Within the course earth construction workshop, bachelor students completed a pavilion which built on the work of the previous years’ workshop. The ambitious design proposal included a curved brick wall – using factory-made loam bricks – and a wall built with unfired earth bricks. The students constructed both in the span of three days, learning different bricklaying techniques and masonry tricks of the trade. The pavilion was topped off with a shed roof, reusing an old truck tarpaulin and steel beams. A number of tension belts connect the roof to the walls and the grounding plate, and make the entire construction easily demountable. The master students of the elective course geosourced...
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AOB @ JAA 2023 AOB would like to invite you to this year’s annual exhibition of the Faculty of Architecture at RWTH Aachen University, where we will be present. Our pop-up presentation in the foyer of the faculty will deal with the topics of sustainable building and the circular economy, as well as show perspectives for tackling contemporary building tasks with ecological architecture. In addition to our pop-up presentation, you can have a look at the work of our students in the Lehrstuhl. There you can learn more about the importance of sustainable building and the use of earth as an innovative building material. The annual exhibition will be held on 24 and 25 May 2023 bundled with the Science Day at the Reiff Museum.  We look forward to welcoming you at the Lehrstuhl.
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Teaching in the summer term 2023 AOB presents the new course offering for the upcoming summer semester. The overarching theme is the development of creative and technically sophisticated solutions for construction tasks using sustainable building materials. Both theoretical knowledge and practical skills in dealing with new materials and production methods will be taught. The programme is aimed at students who want to expand their skills in the field of modern construction. During the White Week, the „geosourced prototyping workshop“ is offered as an excursion to Brussels. The course is intended for all students who want to expand their practical skills in working with natural building materials. Participants will work in small groups and have the opportunity to develop and implement their own projects. Students will be supported by our lecturers, who will be able to share their experience and expertise. Registration is possible for both Master’s and Bachelor’s students. For...
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