The story
A designathon asks students to adapt tradition to a changing climate.
Journeyman International’s Vernacular Building Technology Research initiative was structured as a designathon rather than a conventional building commission. Students investigated African construction traditions, climate risks, material supply, ethics, and cultural context, then translated that research into a prototype for Rwanda’s planned Imidugudu settlements. The scenario focused on a 1. 7-hectare site in Mayange, Bugesera, and challenged teams to improve energy and climate resilience using locally available, low-cost materials.
Required work moved from social and environmental study through case studies, program, circulation, material research, design iterations, technical drawings, renderings, and sustainable strategies. Journeyman International reviewed the proposals, but the archive does not show that any student prototype was selected or built. This entry is therefore research and educational work. Its value is methodological: vernacular knowledge is neither copied as style nor dismissed as obsolete; it becomes evidence to be tested, adapted, and combined with current performance needs under the guidance of place, people, and climate.