Excursions

No Man’s Land Excursion

Excursion SS 2025

Nicosia - Famagusta - Varosha - Paphos, 5 – 15 April 2025

The title “No Man’s Land” is a reference to Cal Flyn’s chapter of the same name in Islands of Abandonment. It describes the spatial border conditions and the people living at, with, and around them in the divided country and island of Cyprus.

The border in Cyprus is an omnipresent theme, as British military areas are also enclosed by fences that establish a territorial division between British and Cypriot territory—distinct from the border separating Cyprus and the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. We will experience the border of the European Union on an island located just 240 km from Beirut, near the politically volatile region of the Middle East.

In this second part of our border-focused exploration, we will collaborate with Cypriot architecture students from the University of Nicosia to develop spatial intervention ideas for the border that runs through the city of Nicosia. We will also explore abandoned sites in the Turkish-controlled area and visit time-encapsulated cities such as Famagusta and Varosha.

Additionally, we will travel across the island, examining ancient and contemporary architecture and meeting with architects between Nicosia and Paphos.

Baltic Border Excursion

Excursion SS 2023/24

Tallinn - Narva - Helsinki,  2 – 8 April 2024

We venture into an immersive exploration of the interplay between soft and hard borders, as well as the intricate intersections of water and land between Estonia and Finnland. This field trip delves into the Twin Cities of Talinn, Estonia and Helsinki, Finnland collectively known as Talsinki. The Estonian trip takes place in collaboration with the well Estonian Academy of Arts, its teachers and students with whom we will be investigating the revitalization and remodelling of large areas of prefabricated buildings from the Soviet era. For this we will participate in an architecture workshop in Narwa, a border city to Russia. Further, we will have the privilege of visiting the VR/AR lab at the University of Technology, offering us insights into the latest technological tools shaping architectural design. Travelling across the Baltic Sea our expedition leads us to Helsinki to view architectural highlights of classic architects such as Alvar Aalto, contemporary architecture and to visit museums. To deepen our understanding of innovative research landscapes, we will engage with experts from SpinUnit, focusing on sustainable urban development, and the Centre for the Social Study of Microbes.