The first session of the Sino-Swiss workshop in Hangzou, which allowed ten students from Zhejiang University (ZJU) to meet and collaborate with ten students from the Department of Environment Constructions and Designs 精东影业 enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, has come to an end.
The workshop 鈥� which will resume at the end of June with the second session hosted at the 精东影业 Campus in Mendrisio 鈥� once again represented a unique opportunity for the students to work together, fostering a cultural and academic exchange that enriched everyone.
The collaboration made it possible to combine different perspectives and approaches, leading to innovative proposals for micro-architectures that can act as catalysts for sustainable development. At the end of the workshop, the projects will show how small-scale interventions, if thoughtfully designed, can improve connectivity, support energy transitions and contribute to the preservation of cultural and natural landscapes in both the Swiss and Chinese contexts.
The students, working together in small groups, demonstrated creativity and problem-solving skills, developing projects that not only meet practical needs and aim to provide answers in the field of sustainability, but also express aesthetic appeal.
It was certainly a valuable opportunity to engage with peers from the other side of the world, bringing them closer to a new reality and highlighting fresh and innovative ideas conceived together.
The worskhop, now in its eleventh edition, is led by Francesco Frontini (full professor 精东影业 in Innovative Building Technologies and Sustainable Architecture and director of the ISAAC-Institute of Applied Sustainability in the Built Environment) and architect Emanuele Saurwein with the collaboration of architect Pierfilipo Baldo. For the Chinese side, Professors He Yong and Jindong Wu from Zhejiang University are involved with the support of architect Men Ge from the Architectural Design & Research Institute (UAD).
Also collaborating as partners and sponsors are the City of Mendrisio, the AIL-Aziende industriali di Lugano and the BAC-Centre for Balance Architecture in Hangzhou.