Soft Architecture HS2026

Lecturers: Roman Kirschner and Vinzenz Leutenegger

Contents and Objectives

The seminar is an introduction into designing (with) spaces. „Soft Architecture“ differs from the classical idea of architecture in that it does not aim to build permanently habitable spaces. It rather encourages students to experiment with existing spaces, to ask what they offer and how they can be adapted to communicate and afford specific atmospheres, narratives, rules, actions and interactions.

Experimenting with spaces comprises experimentation with structures and materials that give these spaces character. Through trial and error, bodily experiences and discussions, students develop their sensitivity and intuition as designers.

This year we will approach this experimentation through the playful lens of minigolf: small, limited playgrounds with endless possibilities and specific affordances in terms of activity, rules and goals. Inspired by Uexküll's idea that organisms and their sensorium develop together with their environment, students will exclude and recombine senses, choose fitting materials, and draw inspiration from ZHdK’s circulation zones to design themed characters and rethink rules and goals together with material and spatial structure. The seminar concludes with a tournament at https://minigolfhard.ch/ .

Schedule

Course: 14.09. – 08.10.2026, Monday – Thursday: 9-17

Week 1
(Introduction, Ideation and Team Building)

Week 2
(Concept development (Topic/Goal/Spatiality) and Prototyping (Prototype 1), Game Development (Rules/Realisation))

Week 3
(Prototype 2 + Exhibition Preparation)

Week 4
(Exhibition Preparation, Vernissage/Tournament, Documentation)

Locations

Indoor:

14.09. 4.D11

15.09. 4.D12

16.09. 5.K07

17.09. 4.D11

21.09. – 01.10. 4.K16

05.10. – 08.10. Galerie 1

Outdoor:

Minigolf Hard
Hardgutstrasse 7
8048 Zürich

Exhibition Vernissage / Final Tournament

7.10., 13:00, Minigolf Hard (Bad weather might force us to organise an indoor version at Galerie 1)

the seminar will end at roughly 17:00 after some feedback rounds. If you want, you can organise a public tournament in the evening…!

Mentoring

We will prepare doodles for mentoring with time slots of different lengths depending on the progress of the overall project. Reserve your slot, be prepared and be on time. Questions can be asked anytime – also via email.

Deliverables and Documentation

1. Final Prototype or Intervention

2. Final Presentation

3. Standard IAD Documentation (see handbook on wiki):

• Text file including the project title, names of students and mentors, a short description (250 - 400 characters ), and a long description (>1000 characters ), in a file to be labelled “Texts”

• At least 10 representative images of the project (to be stored in a file labelled “Images”)

• One longer video (< 5 minutes) of the project (to be stored in a file labelled “Video”). Mp4 full HD, see wiki for more details on format.

• One to two short social media teaser videos (20-30 seconds) in portrait format.

• A PDF documentation (to be stored in a file labelled “Documentation”)

• Additional raw data, e.g., presentation, prototypes, or codes (to be stored in the respective file).

• Upload your documentation files to: smb://fileredu.ad.zhdk.ch/DDE/BDE_VIAD/01_ABGABEN/26_HS/Sem3_Soft_Architecture/Group

4. Documentation of Exercises:

• Upload your scans to: smb://fileredu.ad.zhdk.ch/DDE/BDE_VIAD/01_ABGABEN/26_HS/Sem3_Soft_Architecture/Individual