Urban Africa.
Scenario
Thinking

Summer Semester 19
DAAD Spring School

Requirements:
– Letter of motivation (1 page);
– Compelling portfolio with 1 to 3 projects (max. 10 pages and 10 MB);
– Short CV (max 2 pages);
– Two letters of recommendation from current or recent professors/supervisors/tutors (max. 1 page each)

Applications via email, attn. Ms. Ute Vees: staedtebau@abk-stuttgart.de

The stipend is 1,000 Euros per person and for a trip of twelve days. Depending on individual flight costs and personal expenses the total amount of costs can fully or partially be covered by the stipend.
All costs must be paid upfront by the grant holder. Expenses up to the maximum of 1,000 EUR will be refunded upon arrival in Germany (original receipts mandatory!).

– Max. 10 students;
– Enrolled as PhD/Master students at an Ethiopian university;
– Registered at the departments/faculties of architecture, urban design, urbanism, urban planning or landscape architecture of the respective university;
– Able to understand and willing to work/study complexity;
– Excellent skills in graphic representation and visualization;
– Fluent in English (spoken and written).

Urban Africa. Scenario Thinking in the Context of Rapid Urbanization: Tools and Strategies

Urban growth and rural-to-urban migration at a breath-taking speed in sub-Sahara Africa lead to significant transformations at almost every level. The ongoing and expected processes of rapid urbanization force urban designers, urban planners, and architects to apply new methods and planning strategies. Instead of rolling out classic masterplans there is a high need of a critical, discursive and inclusive urban design thinking to implement and manage the processes that will guide the upcoming transformation.

Since urban planning refers to the future, forecasts, projections and trends serve as a basis for designing cities. Strategic planning explores possible future developments by creating visions and formulating objectives under the consideration of complex correlations often of the field of urban design and planning. In order to design strategies for emerging urban centers appropriate methods are needed. Scenario thinking understood as a research method investigates at the beginning of an urban design process possible, desirable, and normative urban futures.

The Spring School » Urban Africa. Scenario Thinking in the Context of Rapid Urbanization: Tools and Strategies « will investigate and apply tools and strategies of scenario thinking in the field of urban design and planning. Students will attend lectures from academics and professionals from different fields such as climate-responsive design, landscape planning, scenario thinking, actor-based design, and modelling, among other, in order to develop their own scenarios in mixed groups with PhD and Master students from Ethiopia and Germany. Visions and scenarios developed in diagrams, maps, plans, and pictures will be presented to and discussed with experts at the end of the spring school. Case studies are emerging towns in Ethiopia.

The international group of students will discover the unique atmosphere of the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design, explore the city of Stuttgart, and work in concentrated atmosphere in the lake Constance region.

The Spring School aims to prepare future professionals for the complex tasks in the field of urban design and city planning against the backdrop of rapid urbanization. The latter includes issues such as population growth, equitable distribution of and access to infrastructure and natural resources as well as the mitigation of the impacts of the expected climate change.

Schedule and deadlines:

07 January 2019, 12 PM (noon), CET
Publication of call for applications

28 January 2019
Application deadline

04 February 2019
Selection and notification of successful scholarship recipients

04 February 2019
Application for visa to Germany/travel preparations

22 April 2019
Outbound flight to Germany

23 April 2019
Start of Spring School

03 May 2019
End of Spring School

04 May 2019
Return flight to Ethiopia