INTER-ACTIONS: A Model for Interactive Learning Architecture in Urban Design Education
Designing futures through interactive learning architecture—where education, city, and collaboration meet in one dynamic space.
Project: By: Marine Sirieys & Sarah HIRTZ
Shortlisted Entry – Bauhaus Neue
As architecture responds to the growing need for more adaptive, inclusive, and collaborative education systems, the project INTER-ACTIONS explores a revolutionary approach: interactive learning architecture. Built on the foundational ethos of the Bauhaus movement and projected into a tech-forward, socially aware future, this project reimagines how design education can be spatially and socially transformed.
A Vision for Collective Learning
The design teaching of the future is rooted in the belief that everybody can learn from everyone. The INTER-ACTIONS project envisions a system where the individualism of traditional pedagogy is replaced with collaborative, city-integrated, and interdisciplinary knowledge exchange. With students, professionals, and the wider public involved, learning is no longer confined to the classroom.
This school doesn’t merely house education—it becomes a living, breathing network of people and ideas. It blurs the boundaries between teacher and learner, designer and citizen, structure and city.
Architectural Strategy: Learning Through Movement
At the heart of INTER-ACTIONS is the architectural symbol of interaction itself—the ramp. Fluid and organic, the ramp does not just guide circulation; it defines the essence of the building’s purpose. It links spaces physically while promoting unexpected encounters intellectually and socially.
The project explores multiple ramp typologies:
- Spiral ramp for continuous interior-exterior connection
- Double circulation for vertical and horizontal movement
- Fluent pathways enabling diverse destinations and spatial openness
Pedagogical Ecosystem
Learning is decentralized across disciplines—product design, graphic design, textile design—with interconnected hubs of collaboration. Each program links with the others via shared spaces and common lessons, powered by:
- Extern interventions
- Student-teacher-professional collaborations
- Open public access
This multi-nodal system allows for co-learning, knowledge sharing, and skill exchange, making the school an urban knowledge ecosystem.
Integrating with the Urban Fabric
Set in the dynamic context of London, the site selection bridges nature and city. Positioned near Hyde Park and Mayfair, the school is highly accessible via pedestrian and road flows. More than just a building, it acts as a pedagogical landmark, where urban life and learning coexist seamlessly.
Pedestrian flows guide the architecture, connecting the school with:
- Hyde Park – the green lung of London
- Oxford Street & Mayfair – commercial and social energy sources
- Speaker’s Corner & Serpentine Gallery – spaces of cultural expression and free speech
A Transparent, Layered Structure
The building unfolds in multiple levels, each hosting specific functions:
- Ground floor: Amphitheater, cafés, open interaction zones
- First & Second floors: Graphic, textile, and product studios; material libraries
- Upper levels: Exposition areas and relaxing nooks
Materiality is thoughtfully chosen—light grey concrete for structure, darker tones for appropriable zones, and transparent glazing to dissolve interior-exterior boundaries.
Architecture as a Social Educator
Marine Sirieys and Sarah HIRTZ’s INTER-ACTIONS is not just a school—it is an architectural pedagogy. By creating spaces that physically represent interaction, the project merges the past ideals of the Bauhaus with today’s demand for inclusivity, flexibility, and engagement.
This is what interactive learning architecture looks like—open, shared, responsive, and above all, deeply human.
