Arbroath DD11 2NH
United Kingdom
Summer Assembly: Earth Station / Scotland’s Architecture Fringe launches international summer school for collaborative design futures. Application deadline: midnight on May 24, 2026
The Architecture Fringe announces the launch of Summer Assembly: Earth Station, a new international summer school bringing together creative practitioners from around the world for an intensive, immersive exploration of contemporary architecture and design.
Taking place from July 12–17, 2026 at Hospitalfield in Arbroath, Scotland, the week-long residential programme will gather 40 participants across disciplines to engage in a dynamic, collaborative environment.
Applications for the school have now opened, with an application deadline of midnight on May 24, 2026.
Over five days, Earth Station will unfold through five thematic lenses—Material, Making, Movement, Maintenance, and Myth—offering participants a unique framework to interrogate and reimagine the role of architecture and design in a rapidly changing world. Through workshops, discussions, and collective experimentation, attendees will explore how these themes intersect with urgent global challenges and emerging creative practices. The programme will also feature a public event exploring these themes which will be free and open to people in Arbroath and further afield.
The assembly will be led by an internationally recognised group of practitioners and educators, including architect and artist Marf Summers, designer and educator Soph Dyer and artist Alison Scott, designer Akiko Kobayashi in collaboration with craftworker Ben Williams, and artist/builder Becky Little.
“At a moment when environmental, social, and cultural systems are under unprecedented pressure, the need for new modes of practice has never been more urgent,” said Neil McGuire, co-director of the Architecture Fringe. “Earth Station is conceived as a space for testing, exchange, and collective imagination, one that invites participants to work collaboratively, experimentally, and with care.”
Designed as a test bed for progressive practice, the summer school responds directly to the growing need for interdisciplinary approaches within architecture and design. By intentionally bringing together diverse perspectives, Earth Station aims to foster meaningful learning and practical skills to generate alternative, hopeful futures grounded in shared knowledge and creative inquiry.
Participants will not only engage deeply with the programme themes but also experience the beautiful and historic setting of Hospitalfield, an internationally renowned contemporary arts centre known for its commitment to creative residency and education.
The new summer school is a key part of the Architecture Fringe’s activities made possible with the support of Multi-Year Funding from Creative Scotland.
To support access and reduce barriers to participation eight places within the summer school cohort are being supported respectively by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), V&A Dundee and Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA).
Neil McGuire, Co-Director of the Architecture Fringe went on to say “We’re incredibly excited to be calling together participants from across the globe to join us for an immersive week of hands-on learning and making, set within the beautiful surroundings of Hospitalfield. The international summer school is a new strand of exploration for the Architecture Fringe, developed via support from Creative Scotland. Earth Station enables ideas being explored in Scotland to be contextualised by inviting international practitioners and summer school participants to exchange perspectives, examine best-practice, and work in solidarity for the common good.”
An online information session will be held at 6pm (UK Time) on Tuesday May 19. Applications are now open until midnight on May 24, 2026, with places limited to 40 participants worldwide. Full details via the Architecture Fringe website.
