According to its acronym, Alice's main focus is space.

Space has seen many changes in its conception and in its embedment into culture. Though being a seemingly common property of architecture, its notion and concept are rarely addressed directly. Other aspects, such as tectonics, structure, materiality, as well as function and economics tend to dominate the architectural discourse and often leave space as a residue of the many tasks that architecture is asked to perform.

If the notion of space is being shifted from a conception of a spatial totality towards a conceptual exploration of the environment like stated in contemporary art, the idea of space has to be reconsidered: Can a processual knowledge of space be implemented in architecture and embody again a primary criterion for architectural production ?

 

Alice has been founded in October 2006. It offers an experimental approach to teaching. The short and midterm goal is to further develop the curriculum in order to present new approaches to address space both in an academic discourse as well as in the built environment. On the research level it is our goal to explore the possibilities to reestablish space as a flexible and powerful criterion in the discourse of environmental, urban, and architectural planning. The outset therefore is the hypothesis that space in itself is not neutral but has impact. This is of particular relevance if we consider the power of interfaces and simulation.

In its approach Alice explores uncommon territories. The choices of topics and sites purposefully join the familiar with very particular geographical, economical or morphological circumstances. We emphasize on working simultaneously with parallel tools, such as physical models, 3d-software, images, 2d programs, computer aided manufacturing, etc. Alice will adopt its curriculum year per year and encompass new topics, programs, territories and sites. The challenge will be how to maintain developed qualities while at the same time working on new grounds every academic year.