The Project
Recrafting Vocational Ecologies is a master project (2024-2026) in design research, done in the framework of the Master Design at Hochschule der Künste Bern. The project examines the vocational training actor network in Switzerland's building industry from a more-than-human perspective to identify entry points for reform.
The current project evolved from my teaching experience with architects and engineers, my experience as a craftsperson, and my working-class family background, which introduced me to materials, craft, and vocational education at a young age.
My initial thinking was strongly influenced by Richard Sennet's idea of making is thinking, the development of pedagogical methods based on experience during the late 18th and 19th (Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Fröbel, Solomon, Dewey, et al.) centuries that put forth the link between touch and understanding (Begreifen), and more recently the anthropologist Tim Ingold's correspondence theory arguing that engagement with material through making is fundamental for understanding that humans and environments are inseparable.
Translating these fragments into a project resulted in specific implementation steps within a curriculum or teaching unit, similar to my current work at ETH Zurich. Further reading, based explicitly on Actor-Network Theory and Social Practice Theory, led to the insight that a broader understanding of the social entanglements in my field is necessary. Therefore, the project shifted from developing specific interventions to addressing questions of how knowledge is distributed, generated, and transmitted by piercing into what Bruno Latour calls the black box, a system taken for granted.
This website documents the project and serves as an entry point for interested readers, allowing for serendipitous discovery of content. Those who need a structured and systematic overview can refer to the project's content map, which gets updated regularly.
Alessandro Tellini is a maker, educator, and researcher living in Zurich. His research explores knowledge transmission networks from a more-than-human perspective.
Project Supervisor: Annemarie Hahn, Dozentin Kunstpädagogik HKB
The Project
Recrafting Vocational Ecologies is a master project (2024-2026) in design research, done in the framework of the Master Design at Hochschule der Künste Bern. The project examines the vocational training actor network in Switzerland's building industry from a more-than-human perspective to identify entry points for reform.
The current project evolved from my teaching experience with architects and engineers, my experience as a craftsperson, and my working-class family background, which introduced me to materials, craft, and vocational education at a young age.
My initial thinking was strongly influenced by Richard Sennet's idea of making is thinking, the development of pedagogical methods based on experience during the late 18th and 19th (Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Fröbel, Solomon, Dewey, et al.) centuries that put forth the link between touch and understanding (Begreifen), and more recently the anthropologist Tim Ingold's correspondence theory arguing that engagement with material through making is fundamental for understanding that humans and environments are inseparable.
Translating these fragments into a project resulted in specific implementation steps within a curriculum or teaching unit, similar to my current work at ETH Zurich. Further reading, based explicitly on Actor-Network Theory and Social Practice Theory, led to the insight that a broader understanding of the social entanglements in my field is necessary. Therefore, the project shifted from developing specific interventions to addressing questions of how knowledge is distributed, generated, and transmitted by piercing into what Bruno Latour calls the black box, a system taken for granted.
This website documents the project and serves as an entry point for interested readers, allowing for serendipitous discovery of content. Those who need a structured and systematic overview can refer to the project's content map, which gets updated regularly.
Alessandro Tellini is a maker, educator, and researcher living in Zurich. His research explores knowledge transmission networks from a more-than-human perspective.