At CONFLUENCE, project is understood as a research activity on its own. In architecture, to conceive a project, is to undertake research: it is to call up new ways of questioning, experimenting and conceiving. At the heart of the project, the studio is nourished by a “cloud” that constitutes the collection of workshops and seminars that relate to it.
Teaching at CONFLUENCE is organized vertically in order to enable emulation and interaction between students from 1rst to 5th year.
Throughout a student’s career at Confluence, he or she will design a personal course of study. Several choices are proposed:
Students will choose 1 project linked to themes proposed by the school and spanning on a semester. The studio projects are defined in relation with five thematic fields developed by the school (neuroscience, social action, visual art…) The professor/architect follows the studio project and is joined by an outside expert: a preeminent figure linked to the field being interrogated.
The option to put together courses that aid in the development of the studio project. They are organized under different forms (lectures, workshops, conferences, debates) and create a field of knowledge based on contemporary issues and prospective visions of the themes. The purpose of seminars is to aid students in the elaboration of their tools of research and conception.
The selection of 3 intensive workshops per semesters ran by experts in architecture and related fields(scenography, environment, digital fabrication, art, dance, theory etc..). Every workshop is nourished with short tutorials offering practical tools and skills to students such as drawing, animations, model making, photography, writing, public speaking, coding etc..). Limited to 15 students from all the different levels, workshops provide an indispensable culture of transdisciplinarity for students.
The choice of a professional immersion, the development of community- based initiative, or an entrepreneurial project.
Together these choices allow the student to put together a course of study that is unique and personal, allowing him or her to reinforce his autonomy as well as the studio project itself.
Upon the student’s arrival at Confluence, each student will be put into relation with a professor who acts as an advisor that follows the student along his or her course of study. The advisor helps the student to determine the subject of his or her studio research, the choice of common seminars each semester, the research and choice of internships. Through a thorough knowledge of the student’s career at CONFLUENCE, the advisor takes part in all of the important moments of its successful completion.
One of the particularities of the academic programs at CONFLUENCE is that it encourages immersive experiences in professional environments. These experiences make it possible for students to develop their competence for research and conception in a professional setting but also to acquire other forms of knowledge and capacities that result from professional practice. To make this possible, CONFLUENCE establishes – at both international and local levels – partnerships with architectural offices as well as with other kinds of innovative industrial actors.
