Design and Building Process MIBS

Abstract

Design and Building Process MIBS is a seminar for future architects and engineers. It explores professional roles, methodological tools, and environmental responsibility across six lectures and an accompanying workshop, structured into three complementary chapters — Profession, Methodology, and Environment — fostering a holistic, practice-oriented understanding of the building process.

Objective

The course builds on the principle of informal learning — the acquisition of knowledge through reflection, observation, dialogue, and direct experience. Students are encouraged to explore content critically, connect it to real-world contexts, and develop insight through active engagement rather than passive instruction. The central aim is to strengthen both professional attitude and personal skills — including technical expertise, self-awareness, and social competence. Learning is approached as a process of exploration, iteration, and peer interaction. Rather than following a linear path towards fixed outcomes, students construct understanding through experimentation, review, and group dialogue. The course environment supports autonomy and relevance, empowering students to define their own learning trajectories within the framework of the lectures and workshop. Please note: Every lecture provides take-aways to encourage reflection and give-aways that students may choose to apply in practice. Take-aways refer to the essential insights and competencies students are expected to internalise from each lecture — they help consolidate knowledge and sharpen professional understanding. Give-aways, on the other hand, are practical tools, templates or reflective prompts that students can use in studio work or future practice — they translate abstract knowledge into applicable strategies.

Content

Design and Building Process MIBS is a compact seminar for prospective architects and engineers, focusing on the competencies and responsibilities of all actors involved in the design and construction process. The course is structured around three complementary chapters — Profession, Methodology, and Environment — each addressing essential aspects of contemporary building culture, with the aim of allowing each of these aspects to inform each other, thus creating a holistic feedback cycle which aims to result in new insight. These dimensions are becoming increasingly relevant in a specialised, tricky, and international context. Each of the six lectures explores a distinct topic: • Profession.Competence focuses on professional identity, intellectual service provision, and responsibility. • Profession.Collaboration examines roles, responsibilities, and team structures. • Methodology.Framework presents processes and systemic approaches. • Methodology.Monitoring introduces project management, costing, and performance tracking. • Environment.Necessity addresses sustainable decisions and context-based strategies. • Environment.Equilibrium investigates procurement, negotiation, and long-term socio-economic balance. An integral part of the course is an accompanying workshop structured in three agile sprints, each aligned with one of the course chapters. The workshop supports informal and reflective learning by shifting the focus from fixed outcomes to individual and collective learning processes. Students are not asked to solve predefined problems but to define their own goals and develop strategies in response to the lectures. Each sprint builds upon the previous and invites students to reflect on prior knowledge while developing new perspectives: • Sprint 1 – Project Set-Up: roles, identity, and organisation (linked to Profession). • Sprint 2 – Monitoring Strategy: process logic, milestones, and decision paths (linked to Methodology). • Sprint 3 – Interest Map: sustainability, stakeholder interests, and external conditions (linked to Environment).

Resources