Contextual Design: Caribbean Winter School
The Caribbean Winter School is a three-week international architectural workshop in Havana, Cuba. Hosted in cooperation with the Faculty of Architecture at CUJAE and an international network of participating universities, the format brings together Master’s students in architecture from different European universities and Cuban students for an intensive design process on site.
At TUM, the Caribbean Winter School is offered through the Chair of Architectural Design and Participation within the module Contextual Design. Participating TUM students can receive 9 ECTS for the seminar. The course is open to Master’s students in Architecture.
During the workshop, students work in international teams and develop an architectural or urban design proposal responding to the specific spatial, social, cultural and climatic conditions of Havana. The format combines fieldwork, urban analysis, guided city walks, walking lectures, site visits, input lectures, sketching, studio work, daily desk critiques and presentations. Each year, the workshop focuses on a Havana-relevant topic and site, addressing questions of contextual design, urban transformation, public space, climate, material resources and architectural intervention.
The workshop programme is complemented by lectures, visits and exchange formats with local and international contributors, including an architecture symposium at Fábrica de Arte Cubano. Through this combination of on-site exploration, collaborative design work and intercultural exchange, students gain a deeper understanding of Havana’s urban realities and develop context-specific design strategies.
For TUM students, application and selection are coordinated by the Chair of Architectural Design and Participation. The open call for the next edition will be announced in due course.
Contact at TUM:
Barbara Schudok
Lecturer, Chair of Architectural Design and Participation
barbara.schudok@tum.de
Further information:
Main website: https://www.fh-muenster.de/de/msa/internationales/Caribbean-Winter-School
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caribbean_winterschool/
