Excursion
Venice – Architecture as Embodied Experience
As part of the Interior Design (B.A.) program at AMD Düsseldorf, an excursion to Venice took place from October 8 to 10, 2025. The aim was to experience the city as a stage for architecture, art, and spatial perception, and to deepen the connection between concept and atmosphere through embodied experience.
Venice, with its unique topography, historic architecture, and contemporary interventions, provides a precise framework for AMD’s teaching method: Language → Art → Architecture. The excursion linked iconic sites such as St. Mark’s Square and the Architecture Biennale with works by Carlo Scarpa and Santiago Calatrava, sensitizing students to proportion, order, and materiality.
The excursion was led by Prof. Felix Schwake. Central to the program were drawing exercises and shared reflections. Museum and Vaporetto costs were covered for the students to ensure access to all relevant locations.
The students documented their impressions in sketchbooks and presented them daily in plenary sessions. Focus areas of the drawing exercises included:
- Water & Movement (Grand Canal, Vaporetto, Arsenale)
- Detail & Material (Scarpa showroom, Calatrava bridge)
- Spatial Staging (Biennale pavilions at Giardini and Arsenale)
- Panorama & Vastness (Rooftop terrace)
- Body & Identity (University, Ghetto urban spaces)
The excursion illustrates AMD’s didactic approach: architecture is not learned from books but through experience. Drawing sharpens perception, makes proportion and order visible, and forms the basis for reflective decisions.
The Venice excursion was more than a trip: it was a contribution to cultivating judgment. Students experienced architecture as a process—from sensing to thinking to design implementation. In this way, excellence is not claimed but made tangible.
Bilder Besuch Venedigs und der Architekturbiennale 2025