2013_LEARNING ACROSS BORDERS

Interdisciplinary teams, hands-on activities and e-Learning tools for education and co-creation

Throughout 2012 and 2013, icebauhaus established its role as a network hub connecting German partners to the African icehubs network by developed joint projects and initiatives involving the other icehubs in Egypt and Ethiopia, as well as German partners, such as Bauhaus University Weimar and SEPIA Institute for Textile Arts in Halle (Saale).

> Such activities include the Zero Award competition between Egypt, Ethiopia and Germany, including local award ceremonies in each country, whereby the three proud winners of each national competition (icecairo, iceaddis & icebauhaus) were awarded the opportunity of participating in an intense week of green innovation collaboration in the capital of Egypt in September of 2012. Three culturally mixed teams were formed and ideas for common projects were brainstormed and selected, which each team then continued to develop throughout the week and later presented together in a final event in Weimar in December of 2012.

> In September 2012, icebauhaus initially presented the topic Textiles in Architecture to local partners in Egypt. The Institute for Textile Arts SEPIA, in cooperation with icebauhaus, thereupon held a 5-day training for young architects and designers in Cairo end of October 2013. The project-based seminar spotlighted buildings that are energy-efficient through the help of textiles. The essential question involved how artistic textiles enrich the architectural scope in both an aesthetic and a functional way. Investigations about how textile art and design can interact with buildings, as regards parameters like shading and cooling, heat and noise insulation, were conducted. Basic textile principles relevant to architecture, the know-how about materials and various manufacturing methods were introduced, such as traditional craft techniques or pure digital production processes, applied in analog exercises. State of the art digital textile simulation software was also introduced. Using parametric tools, the participants were be able to analyse the integrity of the textiles and design them according to structurally and environmentally sound principles. The workshop was supported by GIZ Egypt.

DOWNLOAD: Textiles in Architecture – Workshop Documentation

> In collaboration with SUDILE from Germany, icebauhaus consulted partner-hub icecairo in Egypt on eLearning methods and technologies for techhubs. A customised eLearning platform based on open source software was set up, formats of digitally supported peer learning were elaborated and prototype blended learning courses and self-learning tutorials were developed in collaboration with the local tech community and invited external instructors from the renewable energy sector. The process was supported by GIZ in Egypt.