The seminar’s approach to typology
Typology was introduced as a system for classifying and organising architectural knowledge, with a focus on relational qualities over appearance. Beyond its function as a system of classification, typology provides a framework for bringing together different aspects of architecture, including structure and spatial organisation, performance, use, and the relationships between those who build and inhabit architecture (Aureli, 2024). Since typological research depends on relationality, documentation and representation were treated as fundamental research tools, together with the critical examination of what is being compared and how. The seminar therefore moved beyond a form-based understanding of type, understood as the qualities of a model, and focused instead on the organisational aspects of architecture and urban design. In this sense, types were considered specific and contingent, resulting from particular cultural, political, social, and economic conditions and needs. Typology was consequently addressed as a point of intersection between analysis and design: while the seminar concentrated on its analytical dimension, it also questioned how typological thinking can shape design methods.
Structure of the seminar
The seminar was organised around an introductory lecture and inputs on typology and architectural research, combined with discussions, student presentations, and desk critiques. Students developed an individual research topic in relation to the overarching question: “How does typological thinking affect our understanding of architecture and how can it inform our future practice?” The projects combined architectural and urban research with the investigation of relevant references and cases, with the aim of developing individual positions towards typology. The seminar structure provided different formats for developing and discussing the projects, from collective round discussions to individual presentations and desk critiques. The research outcomes were translated into two formats: an exhibition presented as part of the IfA Expo 2026 and a short report documenting the research process and findings. The aim of the exhibition was to bring together the individual projects and to present their different approaches to typology within a common framework.
Research approaches within the seminar
The projects challenged the apparent neutrality of a universalised concept of architectural typology by approaching it from different disciplinary, cultural, and methodological perspectives. The free selection of research topics resulted in the following main approaches:
Typology and AI-based generative design tools
The focus was laid in the relationship between typological knowledge and the development and use of AI tools and language models in architectural design. Students investigated how typological knowledge is embedded in AI-based design processes and questioned whether type can be understood as a relational structure of architectural knowledge rather than as a fixed formal model. It examined the theoretical relationship between typology, topology, and computational design methods.
Typology, post-coloniality, and institutions
Another group of projects approached typology through its post-colonial and institutional dimensions, focusing in particular on the intercultural dimension of the MSc Architecture Typology programme and the limitations of universalised typological systems. These projects questioned how typology determines which forms of architectural knowledge become visible, classifiable, and legitimate. They pointed to the tendency of Eurocentric approaches to marginalise situated forms of knowledge, including memory, ritual, ecology, culture, embodiment, everyday practices, and oral and relational knowledge, in favour of simplified and universal categories. At the same time, they questioned the contradictions of attempts to challenge these systems when they remain embedded within the same institutional and representational structures.
Broader relational frameworks for typology
A third approach expanded typological research through relational frameworks such as atlases, websites, and mappings. Rather than treating typology as an objective system for identifying predefined categories, these projects explored its potential as a more subjective framework for establishing connections between seemingly unrelated practices, references, and forms of knowledge. This opened architectural research to a broader knowledge base, using references from different fields and practices to inform architectural thinking and, ultimately, design.
Retrospective approach
The announced suspension of the MSc Architecture Typology programme and its potential discontinuation, after more than ten years at TU Berlin, also prompted a retrospective approach within the seminar. Several projects used the opportunity to examine the programme itself: its actual student profile, its educational and professional prospects, and the relevance of typological thinking beyond graduation, both in architectural practice and further academic work. These projects therefore approached the seminar not only as a space for studying typology, but also as an opportunity to reflect on the potential (and shortcomings) of typology within architectural education and practice.
Thematic approaches to existing types
A further group of projects investigated established architectural types through specific thematic lenses, such as the relationship between Korean housing and economy, vernacular types and climate, or domestic space and social interaction. Rather than tracing typological development through a linear or chronological sequence, these projects examined types through interconnected social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental parameters. This approach shifted the focus from the definition or evolution of a type towards the relationships that shape it, and through which architectural types continuously change and acquire new meanings.
Teaching Team:
Prof. Jörg Stollmann, Beyza Uysal, Tomás Martínez
Invited Guest Critics:
Hendrik Schulz, Tobias Schrammek
Students:
Atalay Fersiz, Monika Beata Zamiecka, Behnaz Khaksar Kahank, Shaghayegh Jafari, Dogan Yigit Kamiloglu, Elif Özge Cilkoparan, Ezgi Ozdil, Yunus Emre Turgut, Naz Nar, Sena Sevinc Öztürk, Likhitha Nekkanti, Hadya Waqfi, Swastik Biswas, Hayidah Nadeem Awan, Hamna Riaz, Inbar Miriam Sharon, Clara Maria Soares Antunes, Laura Bertagno, Erika Massi, Attilio Oronzo De Giorgi, Zuzanna Golebiewska, Mohamed Mostafa Mahmoud Aly Mayouf, Prathik Yash Praveen, Darya Vybarnaya, Nikita Morozov, Sanaz Nahalbar, Nadin Nadri, Seungsoo Lee, Sophie Howard, Domas Karazija.
