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The students acquire an understanding of how architecture is embedded in a cultural and geographic context.

Sicily

The excursion takes you along the coast of Sicily, starting from Palermo. Between Norman palaces and Arab-influenced domed buildings, you will gain an initial understanding of Sicily as a cultural crossroads between Europe and North Africa. From there, the route follows the north coast via Cefalù, travels along the northern flank of Mount Etna and visits a lava landscape. The route continues along the east coast, from Taormina (Greek-Roman theatre) to Catania (Baroque, fish market), Syracuse (Neapolis, Ortigia). From Noto (Baroque), the excursion leads via Agrigento (Greek temple complex) back to Palermo. 

Parallel to exploring these historically grown identities, the excursion deliberately focuses on current challenges and areas of tension. Between ambitious architecture and the so-called maifiniti – never completed or failed projects – participants encounter a different, less idealised Sicily: a space where political upheavals, economic bottlenecks and social dynamics leave visible traces.

It is precisely this complexity that makes Sicily a central space of experience in today's Europe. The island stands at a threshold not only geographically, but also culturally and geopolitically: as a floating bridge between continents, as the first point of arrival for migration across the Mediterranean, as a laboratory of regional identity and European solidarity.

2nd week of April

Infos: www.archtheo.eu

Course examination according to § 7, statute section on "study-law regulations".

Will be discussed in the first lesson.