Forest School

Forest School conceives of school as a landscape, a community, and a living ecological system. Initiated by Prof. Dr. Silvia Benedito in collaboration with the NGO KAFO, students from Harvard University and Graz University of Technology are developing designs for a learning space in Guinea-Bissau that combines environmental education, local knowledge, and climate-adapted architecture. The exhibition at the Architekturgalerie München showcases spatial visions that bridge the forest, climate resilience, and collective learning.

Building on the initial designs and research by Harvard University students under the direction of Silvia Benedito, the project was subsequently continued at the Institute of Architecture and Landscape at Graz University of Technology. Under the title HABITAT, students explored the Forest School as an architectural and landscape framework that integrates human and non-human habitats. The term HABITAT describes not only a place of life, but a spatial system of interdependencies—between climate, vegetation, materials, water, community, and knowledge. The designs address local building materials, traditional construction techniques, climatic conditions, as well as issues of collective use and long-term maintenance. Architecture is understood here as part of an ecological cycle—embedded in natural processes and social structures.

The exhibition at the Architekturgalerie München showcases the results of this international collaboration. It brings together spatial studies, models, drawings, and speculative scenarios for a school that integrates learning, landscape, and community, opening up new perspectives on climate-adapted architecture and community-oriented educational spaces.

Opening: July 15, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
Speakers: Prof. Silvia Benedito, Prof. Victoria von Gaudecker, Prof. Thomas Auer, Nicola Borgmann