This workshop invites participants to design the scenography for the upcoming Swissnex Climate Week event in New York, working exclusively with scaffolding as the primary material. This project is made in collaboration with Swissnex New York City.
Scaffolding is one of the most recognizable features of New York’s urban landscape. Few structures are as omnipresent, versatile, and paradoxical – at once temporary and permanent, protective and obstructive, invisible and iconic.
The workshop will begin with an exploration of scaffolding as both a cultural and architectural artifact. How does this structure embody ideas of construction and transformation? What does it mean to design with a material that is inherently modular, adaptable, and destined for disassembly and reassembly? Participants will be encouraged to reflect on these questions while also engaging with broader themes such as sustainability, circular design, and the reuse of materials in architecture. The aim of the workshop is to reimagine scaffolding not merely as a construction tool, but as a medium for encounters and collective reflection. Students will be invited to think both critically and creatively, developing scenographic proposals that transform this everyday structure into a platform for new forms of gathering, dialogue, and exchange.
Throughout the week, participants will produce drawings and models to test their ideas. They will learn to design within the constraints of a real international commission while embracing experimentation, adaptability, and play. Projects will explore how scaffolding can be reinvented as a powerful tool for spatial storytelling and climate-conscious design.
The workshop will culminate in the selection of one proposal, which will be realised on-site in New York during Swissnex Climate Week in September 2026.
This workshop invites participants to design the sceno graphy for the upcoming Swissnex Climate Week event in New York, working exclusively with scaffolding as the primary material. This project is made in collaboration with Swissnex New York City.
Scaffolding is one of the most recognisable features of New York’s urban landscape. Few structures are as om nipresent, versatile, and paradoxical – at once temporary and permanent, protective and obstructive, invisible and iconic.
The workshop will begin with an exploration of scaf folding as both a cultural and architectural artifact. How does this structure embody ideas of construction and trans formation? What does it mean to design with a material that is inherently modular, adaptable, and destined for disassembly and reassembly? Participants will be encouraged to reflect on these questions while also engaging with broader themes such as sustainability, circular design, and the reuse of materials in architecture. The aim of the workshop is to reimagine scaffolding not merely as a construction tool, but as a medium for encounters and collective reflection. Students will be invited to think both critically and creatively, developing scenographic proposals that transform this everyday structure into a platform for new forms of gathering, dialogue, and exchange.
Throughout the week, participants will produce drawings and models to test their ideas. They will learn to design within the constraints of a real international commission while embracing experimentation, adaptability, and play. Projects will explore how scaffolding can be reinvented as a powerful tool for spatial storytelling and climate-conscious design.
The workshop will culminate in the selection of one proposal, which will be realised on-site in New York during Swissnex Climate Week in September 2026.
Assessment is based on participation in the five-day workshop and on the student’s degree of active involvement.
Teatro Oficina, Lina Bo Bardi and Edson Elito
Assessment is based on participation in the five-day workshop and on the student’s degree of active involvement.