MASTER Distance learning
ARCHITEcTURe aND environment
for Architects and Planners of Adjoining Fields

From Building Material to Ecopolis and back:
Interuniversity Master Course
"Architecture and Environment"

Up to now, ecological planning and building is confined to selective measures such as green roofs, natural building materials, low-energy buildings and so on. Common measures are often combined with ecological solutions which are doomed to failure because there is no holistic concept. For this reason, there are two important facts:

Firstly: The ecological tendency of building is a basic and incisive requirement, because needs of humans and requirements of the environment have to be balanced.
Secondly: Main focus is the development of ecological holistic concepts. Holistic concepts require a complex modus operandi to be learned on the basis of projects.

The concept for the course was developed at the chair „Fundamentals of Ecological Planning and Building” at the faculty Architecture of the Bauhaus-University Weimar. This endowed chair is supported by the DBU (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt), a large foundation promoting innovative and exemplary environmental projects. The blended learning course is organised by WINGS GmbH (Wismar International Graduation Service) and consists of traditional face-to-face sessions in combination with asynchronous self-paced learning. All applicants require at least one year's work experience in the subject.
For information about the tuition fee please go to WINGS.

The course starts with basic knowledge: How do ecosystems and sustainable technical cycles work? How can I learn to understand them without being a biologist or a natural scientist and what are the consequences for planning and building? Furthermore, the introduction provides fundamentals and discusses problems and the variety of solutions of ecological planning and building.

The main focus of the study is on the fields of architecture in consideration of environment: design and construction, building physics and building services engineering, building materials and pollutants, water and landscape as well as urban planning. The combining element is the subject "Ecological Planning and Building“. On the basis of fundamentals, students develop analyses, overall concepts and main objectives for the partial fields such as energy, water, building materials and pollutants, open space, mobility, socio-culture and economy. How can one achieve the objectives and how can one bring together these various ideas to an overall concept? Students will learn the method of operation which achieves holistic ecological concepts.

One-sided considerations and expensive solutions for conventional concepts and restrictive requirements such as the exclusive usage of natural building materials are not the aim of our course. A holistic concept is important for every planning task. Holistic concepts require a complex modus operandi to be learned on the basis of building projects and urban planning projects. Students will work on these projects in small groups.
The Master's thesis is an architectural building design and/or urban planning design which demonstrates the student’s ability to independently and academically work on a
holistic urban design or holistic building design.

The Master course is an interdisciplinary and interuniversity course. There is an experienced team of scientists and architects holding the lectures. The lecturers contribute their knowledge of national and international projects to the seminars. They teach and research at different universities, such as Bauhaus-University Weimar, Technische Universität in Berlin, Hamburg-Harburg and Munich, University of Kiel and Wismar, and they work in engineering or architectural offices or at environmental institutions.
The e-learning system ECOBINE – Ecological Building Net – is a virtual learning environment imparting knowledge about the different fields of sustainable planning and building. This platform is an effective way of working outside the lecture hall and getting detailed information.

Course participants can deepen their knowledge in the field of “energy" or “building materials" which includes applicable regulations, evaluation methods and calculations. Additionally, there are supplementary courses completed by examination. After completing these courses successfully, graduates will be awarded the title “Energy Consultant” or “Ecological Building Material Consultant”.

We don't want to find a new definition for planning and building with all its varieties. But environmental requirements form a new framework for innovative and creative solutions. If interested, please also look at our reference book "Ökologisches Bauen – Von Grundlagen zu Gesamtkonzepten“ (Hg.: D. Glücklich, DVA Munich).

For further informationen please visit WINGS GmbH.