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Travel Fellowships to attend the International Herbstacademie in Neukloster, Germany 2007-2011
The Department of Architecture has a long and successful history of off-campus programs. These programs encourage the personal and professional growth of the students by exposing them to ideas, experiences, and places both different and distant from those offered on campus. Recently the Architecture Department has been honored with an invitation to participate in the 15th Annual International Neukloster Herbstacademie, Germany in November 2007. This workshop/symposium is an exceptional opportunity for the individual student participants and the international reputation of the Architecture Department. Other participating universities are: the University of Dortmund, Germany; the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands; University of Applied Science Potsdam, Germany; the Technical University of Wismar, Germany; the Technical University of Havana, Cuba; and the University of Kansas, United States.
Founding organizer Gernot Nalbach, (principal of Nalbach and Nalbach, Berlin and professor of architecture University of Dortmund, Germany) created the Herbstacademie fourteen years ago as a mechanism to initiate international collaboration between institutions who share an interest in the problems of art and architecture. During the annual ten day symposium/charrette students and faculty are brought together from around the world to exchange ideas, philosophies, and work methods all around a central theme and architectural problem. Participants include eight to ten students with a faculty member from each institution resulting in a mix of 50-70 students. These students are then placed into working groups of three to four, with every group representing a mix of the participating schools. Mornings are given to field trips associated with the charrette, while afternoons are spent working on the charrette problem. Evenings are organized around faculty led lectures/discussions with late night time for students to exchange ideas and continue to work in their groups.
There are many pedagogical benefits with this program including the idea of collaborative work on a charrette where it is important to identify and articulate ideas in a timely manner. Of course the experience of working as part of a team of students from different backgrounds, intellectual positions, perspectives, and cultures is incalculable. This aspect is an added benefit with this particular off-campus program as many programs keep the American students isolated as a working group. All work and lectures are conducted in English which means the American students may fully participate with no language handicap.
The Herbstacademie has organized the next five years around the theme “From Sea to Sea” with the Fall 2007 session titled “Flowing Ideas.” This 15th session will be held at Neukloster near the city of Wismar in Germany, site of the previous symposia. The next four years will meet in sites around the world associated quite literally with water, with Cal Poly selected as the site for the host year focused on the Pacific Ocean. Other symposia being planned are located on the Indian (Mumbai), Atlantic (Havana or Miami) and Arctic Oceans (Russia or Greenland).
The Architecture Department feels that this exceptional opportunity ─ occurring during their capstone year ─ should be available to all students regardless of their financial ability. All 5th year architecture students in good standing at Cal Poly will be eligible to submit portfolios to be chosen as one of the eight to ten participants each year. The establishment of a fellowship program for this annual travel event will allow selection to be based on ability as demonstrated through portfolio with no student excluded through financial hardship. In the event of a tie between students applying for the positions those who have not previously participated in an off-campus program with the Architecture Department will be given priority.