The World as a Place of Learning: Excursion Week for Architecture Students
The World as a Place of Learning: Excursion Week for Architecture Students
Every semester, the Liechtenstein School of Architecture sets out on a week-long excursion that becomes one of the most formative moments for many students. For one week, learning moves out of the studio and into real landscapes, cities, and cultural environments. The places visited are closely connected to the design topics of the studios and create a foundation for a learning process that links observation, analysis, and architectural imagination.
The excursions of both the foundation and the advanced studios demonstrate the diversity of architectural education at the University of Liechtenstein. They lead into new territories, open up different perspectives, and sharpen the understanding of how architecture emerges in relation to space, society, climate, and culture.
Foundation Studios (Bachelor, semesters 1–4)
Built Heritage & Upcycling – Italy
The studio spent its seminar week on the island of Lazzaretto Nuovo in the Venetian lagoon. Students documented the historic ensemble through drawings and photography, exploring its layered architectural fabric. Through workshops and conversations on site, they developed a deeper understanding of transformation as a careful and responsible form of working with existing structures.
This journey led from alpine valleys through karst landscapes all the way to the Slovenian coast. Along the way, students encountered historic urban structures, contemporary architecture, and characteristic cultural landscapes. A visit to the Venice Architecture Biennale complemented their insights into current positions within the international architectural discourse.
Urban Design & Spatial Development – Spain
During the seminar week, the studio examined large-scale infrastructures between Madrid and Almería. Students analysed transport systems, energy facilities, and productive landscapes such as the greenhouse territories of Almería. Their observations informed a short documentary film exploring the relationship between infrastructure and space.
The studio travelled to Portugal to experience a building culture shaped by simple, material-conscious, and climate-responsive strategies. From Lisbon through the Alentejo to places such as Monsaraz and Évora, students explored spaces formed by light, mass, and craftsmanship. Visits to works by Álvaro Siza, Souto de Moura, and Aires Mateus rounded off the journey.
Advanced Studios (Bachelor semesters 5–6, Master semesters 1–4)
Built Heritage & Upcycling – Netherlands
Engaging with large steel structures took the students to Rotterdam and the surrounding region. Through visits to various steel construction projects, they gained insights into the creation of cruise ships, a floating farm, historic harbor structures, and modern bridges. These examples served as inspiration for the question of how decommissioned ski lift installations in the Alpine region can be reinterpreted and further developed.
This studio devoted its seminar week to the architectural culture of Sweden. Encounters with buildings by Sigurd Lewerentz and Gunnar Asplund gave students insight into an architecture shaped by material, light, and precise craftsmanship. The journey offered an intense experience of spaces defined by calm, clarity, and a disciplined design attitude.
Urban Design & Spatial Development – Switzerland
In Feldis, a small mountain village on a sunny terrace above the Hinterrhein valley, the studio explored questions of spatial development in the Alpine region. The week included spatial analyses, conversations with residents, and early design scenarios addressing the future of village life and landscape transformation.
Sustainable Design – United Kingdom
The excursion led to London, with a focus on the district of Newham and the Royal Docks. Students examined strategies of sustainable urban development and deepened their exchange with the Bartlett School of Architecture. Walks, site studies, and a workshop with local students provided insights into the interplay between architecture, city, and climate.
Urbanism, Architecture & Society – India
The seminar trip of Studio India led to Delhi, Surat, Ukai, Ahmedabad, and Jaipur. Students explored local building practices, craftsmanship, and cultural contexts. Encounters with artisans, visits to traditional and contemporary buildings, and hands-on workshops shaped this rich and immersive week.
The excursion week once again demonstrated how powerful learning on site can be for architectural education. Whether in the lagoons of Venice, in Swedish forests, in London, in the Alentejo, or in the mountains of Graubünden, students experience architecture where it unfolds its full presence. They observe, draw, discuss, and develop a spatial understanding that cannot be replicated in the studio alone.
The next seminar weeks will take place in March 2026.
Find out more about the Liechtenstein School of Architecture at www.uni.li/architektur
