Best Practices in Interdisciplinary Teaching

Project Process

1. Competition and Planning
   The project began with an internal student competition at the university. Students majoring in architecture and interior design developed designs for a sustainable coworking space. The winning designs laid the foundation for a building that combines flexibility and sustainability. The civil engineering department was involved in the subsequent planning phase.
2. Construction & Participatory Building
   A central feature of LUCY is the “hands-on” principle. Students are involved in both the planning and the execution. For example, the ceilings were constructed using a wood-clay construction method with the active support of students. The walls are also built using renewable raw materials in a resource-efficient manner.
3. Monitoring
   To generate as much operational data as possible, the building is equipped with state-of-the-art sensors that continuously collect data on indoor climate, moisture levels in the insulation, and energy efficiency.
4. Use & Real-World Laboratory Operations
   LUCY serves as a coworking space and a venue for interdisciplinary teaching. Scientific oversight ensures that the insights gained regarding the behavior of natural building materials are directly incorporated into future research projects and construction practices.
   

Added Value Through Interdisciplinarity
Thanks to the close integration of architecture, interior design, and civil engineering, planning and execution were holistic from the very beginning. The team combined structural, ecological, and design expertise—ranging from structural analysis and life-cycle assessments of renewable raw materials, to addressing circular material flows, to the design of flexible, modern learning and working environments.

The project thus not only fostered an interdisciplinary understanding of complex interrelationships throughout the entire life cycle but also the ability to implement innovative solutions in a real-world, participatory research context.

Outlook
Completion of LUCY is scheduled for the summer semester of 2026. The grand opening as a coworking space is set to follow in October 2026. In the long term, the building will be used as a real-world laboratory to research the durability of ecological building materials using digital monitoring.