Winter School: Spatial Thinking and Spatial Agency at ZHdK.
In February 2027, Antonio Scarponi, founder of Conceptual Devices and co-founder of the Institute for Spatial Thinking, will teach Spatial Agency: Before / Towards Form with architect and curator Beatrice Fontana at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).
The course connects Scarponi’s work as an architect, designer and educator with his research into spatial thinking as an epistemic field of practice, articulated in Spatial Thinking: Foundation Paper (2026). This research investigates the conditions through which spatial relations emerge, stabilise and produce consequences. Within this field, design operates as a form of knowledge that participates in these processes.
Envisioning, sensing and assessing coexist as temporal positions within this inquiry. They engage with relations before they take form, during their emergence and once they have stabilised, continuously informing one another.
Spatial Agency: Before / Towards Form situates this inquiry in an educational setting. Participants assemble a shared archive of objects, images, drawings, rules and observations. Through model making, movement, drawing and prototyping, they investigate how spatial configurations organise access, visibility and possibilities for action.
Spatial agency is explored through the capacity to recognise and act upon these conditions. The course brings research and teaching into direct exchange, extending Scarponi’s investigation of the relationship between design, knowledge and spatial practice.
Part of ZHdK Winter School 2027, the course welcomes practitioners working with places, environments and spatial relationships across disciplines. No specialist prior knowledge is required.
Teaching: Beatrice Fontana and Antonio Scarponi
Dates: 4 to 6 and 11 to 13 February 2027
Language: Theoretical sessions in English; group work and individual exchanges also possible in German
Qualification: 4 ECTS microcredential upon successful completion of an assessed project
Early bird registration: Until 29 November 2026
Registration deadline: 10 January 2027