Master Design Studio
Ghana Co-Lab

T-T Professor Moritz Dörstelmann, Carolin Feldmann, Vincent Witt.

A global shift toward a circular economy demands local construction changes. Especially regions with rising urbanization and associated construction activity, such as coastal west Africa, pose challenges and opportunities to reduce construction emissions. Reinterpreting the potential of digital construction technologies in the local socio-economic context of Ghana, the studio aims to explore context-specific building technologies for circular construction.

In regular exchange with multi-disciplinary students from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana, this design studio develops a sustainable construction concept from the previous studio Common Futures into an applicable construction system.

Centered around preparing a joint mockup in Kumasi, it merges local materials with digital tools—reducing scaling hurdles, costs, and skill barriers while creating new economic opportunities. As a student-led design and build project, the group work spans from fundraising to exploration of novel architectural expression.

Through 1:1 scale iterative prototyping, the studio is targeting low-impact, low-cost, high-quality housing for urban contexts.

In summer 2025, a demonstrator will be built in Ghana, laying the groundwork for a long term international engagement of the professorship