In practice, energy-efficient and climate-neutral building often means taking designs made according to urban planning and architectural criteria and then resorting to technical fixes in order to satisfy the required energy standards. By comparison, the Architecture and Energy focus concentrates on identifying a genuine architectural approach to the question of sustainability in the building, firstly at a typological level, then at a constructional level. Only then are dedicated technical solutions considered and deployed. With this strategy, the comparison, consolidation and integration of architectural and constructional design solutions on the one hand, and the understanding of architecture as a dynamic, technological system on the other, leads to fruitful thematic areas of immense relevance to contemporary architectural practice.
The emphasis should no longer be preoccupied with the problem of cold weather in central Europe. Instead, it should be complemented by other factors such as heat, wind, atmospheric humidity and seasonal change – incorporating different geographical regions – with the aim of empowering architects to plan and operate within a global context.
To the Architecture and Energy focus on the website of the cooperative master’s course.
