Thesis Studio by Studio Alexine Sammut

Introduction:

This thesis studio takes the island as both site and metaphor. To think in islands is to engage with scarcity, resilience, resourcefulness, and belonging. Islands demand ingenuity: how to build with what is at hand, sustain communities across generations, balance isolation with exchange, and situate oneself within larger geographies. Isolation and entanglement, rootedness and movement—these are the conditions we will explore.

We begin not with a fixed typology or site, but with a method: thinking in islands. How do islands shape, and how are they shaped by architecture? By situating our work within histories, ecologies, and social practices, we explore how resilience, craft, and beauty can grow from specific constraints rather than abstract ideals.

In our studio, design is understood as asking better questions: how do we want to live, and what do we want our world to feel like? The studio promotes a design-through-making approach. Students work directly with materials, prototypes, and constructive principles, testing how things come together and how construction, space, and aesthetics influence one another. Projects challenge conventions and imagine new architectural languages, exploring regenerative, bioregional, and circular approaches to design.

Ultimately, the studio invites you to create architecture and atmospheres that carry meaning and life. Now more than ever, we need to restore depth and humanity to our relationship with the spaces and things around us.

Approach: The thesis unfolds over two semesters:

+Semester 3: Research

This semester is dedicated to building a strong research foundation while also setting the stage for design. Students define a personal concept of islandness through theory, visual culture, and case studies, then assemble a “toolbox” of lessons: aesthetics, craft, resourcefulness, relationality, and knowledge exchange. Each student will select a site and work toward a thorough understanding of its histories, ecologies, and social practices. Research is tested through mappings, interviews, craft samples, and conceptual diagrams, leading to a portfolio that frames the architectural brief and also outlines an initial project idea. Making clear decisions at this stage will allow for a stronger design process in Semester 4.

+Semester 4: Project

Research transitions into design. Students develop their site and theme into a full architectural proposition (spatial, material, and social), grounded in regenerative design. Work progresses through drawings, models, and narrative, culminating in a consolidated project with external feedback.

All of this will be guided in a structured way through our weekly meetings and discussions. We will work hard, but we will also enjoy the process.

Who This Studio Is For:

This studio is for curious, self-motivated students who want space to experiment and think deeply. If you are drawn to testing ideas through making, telling stories with materials, and exploring how ecology shapes design, you will feel at home here. Together, we will move between cultural narratives and hands-on practice, confronting issues of scarcity, resilience, and belonging as lived realities. By learning from islands, we’ll build frameworks that reach beyond them, preparing you to design for a world defined by ecological and social interdependence.

Field Trips:

Two excursions will ground our explorations:

+ Rügen (October): A short trip to reflect on personal definitions of islandness, guided by dramatic coastlines, forests, and fishing villages. We will hike through landscapes once captured by Caspar David Friedrich and visit Studio Susanne Brorson, where contemporary practice engages with the island’s cultural and ecological context. (Expected cost €200-250)

+ Sicily (April): A 5-day journey combining time on a farmstead with visits to cultural landmarks and incomplete structures—observing how scarcity, farming, and politics shape architecture. The trip will build on your chosen site and project idea, offering new perspectives to enrich and challenge your work. Costs will be discussed later as a group to ensure they remain accessible for everyone.

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