International Projects

— ADU_2020: The restructuring of Higher Education for the 21st century in the expanded field of Architecture, Design and Urbanism.

ADU2020 is a structural project financed by the European Community and is part of the Alfa framework. During recent years Latin America and Europe have been subject to a complex social, economic and spatial process that has imposed new expectations and demands on the built environment. ADU2020 focuses on future education for Architects, Designers and Urbanists to meet the demands of a new context: identifying ‘renewed professional areas’ for the twenty-first century in a local, regional and international contexts in order to raise the employability of ADU graduates; clarifying the ‘new skills and competences’ required in accordance with public authorities, as well as professional and economic bodies; refining the ‘common and regional-specific competences’ for the different educational programs in ADU in relation to current challenges; describing the indicators and guidelines for implementation in a ‘renewed curriculum’; and assessing and describing ‘new practices on competence-based creative teaching’. The project includes 18 partners: 13 from LA and 5 from EU. The project has different activities as workshops, collective distant learning design studio’s, conferences, discussion-sessions, etc… (www.adu2020.org)
(Prof. Dr. Margarita Greene (PUC, Santiago de Chile, Chile), Prof. Dr. Yves Schoonjans & Prof. Dr. Kris Scheerlinck)

— Common Streetscapes, The Low Countries & New York
An joint research and design project between Pratt Institute New York, TU Delft and KU Leuven.

This international collaboration project wants to reinforce and expand the existing professional, academic and cultural networks between the two regions. During summer and fall 2014, a combination of joint activities and events seeks to highlight a historical influence on the identity and growth of the region of New York and will explore cultural similarities, parallels or differences between the two regions to propose future scenarios for research and design in the field of art and architecture, urban design and planning.
This multiple exchange project is based on one main theme: Common Streetscapes, that are understood as collective spaces of cultural identity and social cohesion and used as a fil rouge for the multiple activities within this project. This main theme is used as an introduction to issues of architecture, urban planning, water management, flood protection policies, (re)design and (re)construction of public space, re-use of infrastructure etc.
Through the academic/cultural exchange project, this project helps to set up a solid base point for further Flemish and Dutch presence in the New York region.
(Prof. Dr. Kris Scheerlinck)