Spatial Adventures: Design for Transitions
hosted by Vilnius Academy of Arts in Vilnius, Lithuania

Title of course: Spatial Adventures: Design for Transitions
Intensive course dates: September 7^th – 18th, 2026
ECTS: 3

Study programme: Interior design BA / Spatial design MA
Level: BA/MA

Number of accepted students: 14
Hosted by: Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuania

Location: Vilnius, Lithuania

Application deadline: June 5^th, 2026. Selection results will be announced by June 15^th, 2026.

How to apply: Please submit an online application by the deadline.

The application must be submitted as a single PDF file and should include:

• a short letter of motivation (max. 400 words)
• a portfolio section featuring 3 selected academic or workshop projects

Please ensure that all materials are compiled into one document.

Intensive course description:

Spatial Adventures is an intensive, research and practice-based workshop programme taking place in Naujoji Vilnia, a historically layered industrial area shaped by the river Vilnia and railway infrastructure, currently undergoing gradual transformation into new cultural, social, and residential uses.

The course operates as a shared experimental platform where four parallel workshops take place simultaneously within the same site, each led by an international tutor and based on a distinct methodology. Students engage in site-specific exploration through hands-on, 1:1 scale prototyping, artistic interventions, adaptive reuse strategies, and material-driven design approaches.

Working in mixed international and cross-level groups, participants explore spatial transformation through direct engagement with place, material, and context, while learning from diverse perspectives and methodologies.

Course Organised by:

Assoc. prof. Laura Malcaitė, lect. Povilas Marozas

Course Leaders:

Susanne Brorson (DE) is an architect, researcher, and educator based on the Baltic Island of Rügen, Germany, working at the intersection of climatic, vernacular, and regenerative architecture. Through her award-winning practice, Studio Susanne Brorson, she explores architecture through material experimentation, landscape-based research, and “as found” spatial conditions. Alongside her professional practice, she develops research-driven teaching formats focused on 1:1 experimentation and design-build methodologies, and has taught internationally at institutions including the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, HafenCity University Hamburg, and Roma Tre University.

Manten Devriendt (BE) is an architect, spatial planner, researcher, and educator working across architecture, urbanism, exhibition, and landscape design. As co-founder of the Belgian–Latvian interdisciplinary practice Sampling, his work explores the relationship between people, space, and environment through conceptual and research-driven design approaches. Alongside professional practice, he is actively engaged in international academia through teaching, workshops, lectures, and research collaborations with institutions across Europe, including Ghent University, Politecnico di Milano, the Art Academy of Estonia, and Vilnius Academy of Arts.

Stefan A. Pedersen (DK) is an artist, musician and teacher working from Copenhagen, Denmark. In his work he seeks out unstable relations between past and present moments, with the conviction that history is not causal or already given. His practice covers photography, moving images, sound, writing and some more performative forms with the group Ectoplasmic Materialism.

Gregor Taul (EST)

Gregor Taul is an Estonian teacher, critic, curator, and researcher based in Tallinn, currently working as an assistant professor at Estonian Academy of Arts in the departments of Interior Architecture and General Theory Classes. His interdisciplinary background combines semiotics, art history, architecture criticism, curatorial practice, and research on public space and monumental art.

Course Curators:

VDA professors: Assoc. prof. Laura Malcaitė, lect. Povilas Marozas, prof. Rokas Kilčiauskas, lect. Vytautas Gečas, Assoc. prof.  Eglė Bazaraitė

Objectives and outcome:

The course aims to provide an interdisciplinary, research and practice-based learning experience that combines experimental design, material research, and critical reflection within a real spatial context. It addresses contemporary challenges in spatial design, including sustainability, circularity, resource awareness, and the evolving role of public space and social interaction.

Through intensive, collaborative work, students are expected to:

• develop site-specific spatial concepts responding to environmental, social, and cultural conditions
• engage in full-scale experimentation and prototyping
• work collaboratively in international and interdisciplinary teams
• critically reflect on design processes, methods, and outcomes

The course results in spatial prototypes, installations, and experimental interventions developed on site, accompanied by process documentation (drawings, material tests, photo/video). Outcomes are presented publicly, forming a collective exhibition that reflects multiple approaches to space, material, and transformation.

IMPORTANT: Applicants are expected to check that participation in the intensive course will not clash with scheduled activities in their home academies, BEFORE submitting their application.

Funding:

Students’ travel expenses will be fully reimbursed.
Free accommodation and lunch will be provided to all selected students.

The workshop is funded under the Nordplus/CIRRUS network framework.

Contact for practical enquiries: lina.koseleva@vda.lt

Contact regarding course content: assoc. prof. Laura Malcaitė-Survilė, laura.malcaite@vda.lt or lect. Povilas Marozas. povilas.marozas@vda.lt