From artisanship towards innovation, exploring regenerative materials and design solutions while creating a place for the community to meet …  the focus of this edition of the postgraduate programme is 'Building Beyond Bricks'. From excess to sufficiency, from linear to circular, from depletion to regeneration… together with researchers, experts from practice, and industrial partners, we explore the potential of artisanship and innovative solutions with regenerative materials, aiming for a sustainable and inclusive society in balance with nature. 

While designing and building ‘beyond bricks’, we search for alternative ways of building and for solutions to transform the (built) world we live in today into a system that tries to regenerate and distribute the values it creates more broadly. Backed by academic knowledge and insights from practice, we explore the application of (unfired) earth blocks in contemporary architecture, discover bio-sourced and fibre-based materials such as lime hemp and straw bales, get inspired by traditional wood construction and search for innovative solutions to upscale the use of regenerative materials such as circular wood construction, CLT and industrially produced earth blocks. 

Embedded in ongoing research and long-term collaboration with local actors, participants of the postgraduate programme will realise a small-scale building project in the town of Helchteren, creating a place for the community to meet.  By defining a series of interactions and interventions during the Beyond Borders festival, the opportunities for regenerative materials are shared with the wider community.

Theory and reflection

We build our foundations in four, thematic sessions: Materials & circularity, Biodiversity & landscape, Sufficiency & lowtech design and Social and participatory design. A series of lectures by both academics and experts from practice is combined with discussion sessions and brief workshops. Together with the lecturers, we explore the four themes more in detail and reflect on alternative ways of designing and building.

more about the theory and reflection sessions

Hands-on experimenting

Hands-on experimenting plays a central role in the postgraduate programme. Throughout the year - in collaboration  with BC Materials and other partners from building practice and industry -  we combine hands-on workshops to experiment with regenerative materials with lectures and site and study visits. The focus is on artisanship as well as innovations to upscale regenerative solutions and to create impact in the building sector. In Spring, we visit Morocco and the village of Ouled Merzoug, where the participants of the 18|19 edition of Building Beyond Borders designed and built the Women’s House. Together with local craftsmen, we study traditional ways of building with earth and are introduced to innovative, contemporary applications of earth blocks. 

more about the hands-on atelier

Research tracks

Participants can choose between three research tracks that will be guided by researchers from the Sustainability and Spatial Capacity Building research lines of Hasselt University. The research tracks serve as input for the design of the building project and festival in Helchteren that will be organised and built at the end of the postgraduate programme. In the research track on earth construction, embedded within the VLAIO Living Lab research project on earth blocks, participants explore the application of earth blocks in contemporary architecture. They research user preferences, perceptions, social adoptation and the circular potential of earth block masonry. In the research track on wood construction, circular design solutions and the potential of revaluing reclaimed wood are studied as input for the design of the building project. The social and participatory design track is embedded in a long-running research project in the community of Helchteren. In a participatory way, we will design and build the intervention, interact with end-users on the use of earth blocks and create awareness on other ways of building with a lower environmental impact.  

more about the research and design studio

Building project

Taking up the role of material designer, manager, communicator, participation mediator or even activist, participants will develop a plan of action for a real-life intervention that makes the beauty and social added value of regenerative architecture tangible to a wide public. Theoretical backgrounds, hands-on skills, shared ambitions and activist mindsets come together in the real-life project. In Helchteren, we will design and build a welcoming, informal place for the community to meet and relax. The intervention will be low-impact and high-quality at the same time, aiming to share the beauty of 'caring for our planet' with the wider community. During a self-organised festival, participants will interact with neighbours, local stakeholders, future change-makers, academic experts, professionals, …. and disseminate the relevance of a built environment in regenerative materials.

more about the building project 

wearebuildingbeyondborders

During their postgraduate year, the wearebuildingbeyondborders website is coordinated by the participants as a living platform to communicate about the live projects with local stakeholders and other enthusiasts