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Technical University of Munich

Short Design Project: Designing as a Key to Climate Adaptation

Climate Change and Social Inclusion in Landscape Architecture and Planning

Short Design Project and Competition Opportunity: Rework your best design with a focus on climate adaptation & inclusion!

Have you developed a design project in past semesters that you’re still proud of? Did your project – implicitly or explicitly – address climate change?

Our (urban) environments are changing – and so are the responsibilities of landscape architecture. In times of climate crisis, biodiversity loss and social fragmentation, we need bold and creative designs that don’t just respond, but anticipate and shape change.

Reflect on your previous work and rework it to showcase your ability to create livable, climate-resilient open spaces through the tools of landscape architecture. Critically analyze one of your original designs through the lens of climate adaptation and social inclusion. You may create new graphics and texts or simply restructure your project with a new layout.

Your effort is doubly worthwhile – this short design project also gives you the opportunity to take part in the IFLA 2025 Student Competition: https://ifla2025.com/student-activities/student-competition

 

Content Requirements:

  • Show how your design addresses biodiversity, water, and/or soils in a sustainable way (e.g., “soil health”).
  • Work at the scale of a site, neighborhood, or region.
  • Show how your concept involves local communities in the transformation (participation).
  • Show how your method of analysis informed your design. What spatial, statistical, aesthetic, ecological (…) data guided your design process? Present your analysis clearly and understandably.

 

Rules:

  1. Select a design project from a previous semester, developed by your team (max. 5 people), and rework it. You must hold all copyright to the submitted work.
  2. Projects from both landscape planning and landscape architecture (all LA/LP studios at TUM) are allowed. All spatial scales and contexts are welcome.
  3. You may reuse all original graphics. New visuals and texts can also be added.
  4. Your submission must be coherent and self-explanatory: analytical, conceptual, and design-based. Clearly introduce the project site so the concept becomes understandable. Your submission should be fully comprehensible without knowledge of the original project.
  5. Provide accurate citations and only use imagery for which you hold copyright.
  6. If you plan to submit your work to the IFLA 2025 Student Competition, make sure to read the official competition brief and adapt your entry accordingly:
    https://ifla2025.com/media/pages/student-activities/student-competition/154b310bf0-1742397746/ifla-2025_student-competition_brief.pdf

 

Submission Format – Short Design Project

  1. Bachelor students: one or two A1 boards, Master students: two A1 boards; portrait orientation. No fixed layout template.
  2. Title and all texts in English.
  3. Max. approx. 100 words project statement (overview of goals, challenges, design idea) and max. approx. 100 words project description (e.g., analysis process and how it informed the design).
  4. PDF format, 300 dpi, max. 20 MB per file.
  5. Submit both a digital PDF (via e-mail) and a printed version (DIN A1).
    Please bring the printout to the presentation.
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