VIRTUAL: Learning. Life. Work.

Abstract

In an educational environment where the virtual, the individual and a certain distance from material reality are marking our exit from the pandemic, shared experiences and direct production result in an enthusiastic way of developing learning experiences. At the Toledo School of Architecture UCLM in Spain we have maintained face-to-face teaching except for spring 2020. In September 2020 the campus expanded to different empty buildings in the city of Toledo, giving us the opportunity to redesign our space, to experiment and to stay together. Teachers and students. During the lessons and workshops of the Highly Technological Projects subject, we seek sustainability through the interaction of art and technology. In recent years we have created prototypes of renewable energies integrated into architectural spaces with the contribution of piezoelectric sensors. We have also created solutions for artificial lighting introducing conductive paint and integrating heritage. Increasing material savings in architecture and furniture nodes thanks to 3D printing. Students produce their own prototypes at 1:1 scale. The scale of reality. Finding their own design weaknesses, students try to solve them by transforming their work into better proposals, sharing information and efforts among all of them, and discovering the possibility of uniting different disciplines with one main objective: putting Art and Technology at the service of Sustainability. This article explores the role of hands-on practice and offers insights into adaptable architectural education amidst changing landscapes. It defends the need for interactive workshops and highlights the importance of craftsmanship in prototyping. It explores the scalability of 3D printing for efficiency enhancement by experimenting its geometric possibilities and by the reduction in the use of raw materials that additive manufacturing entails.