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COMMON(S) takes as its starting point what is held in common: space, resources, systems and futures. Architecture, design and fashion have long celebrated the singular author and exceptional object. This series shifts the focus towards the collective, ordinary and mutual. How do these disciplines operate within shared social, ecological, digital and political systems? What does it mean to design not for, but with?
Viktor&Rolf opens the programme on September 11 as part of Hay Festival Segovia. Since founding their studio in 1993, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren have challenged the boundaries between fashion and art through sculptural couture, experimentation and theatricality. Spanning haute couture, ready-to-wear, exhibitions and performance, their work uses dress to question fashion’s codes and explore how meaning is collectively produced.
On September 23, Mexican architect Rozana Montiel presents her work on public space, participatory design and architecture’s social role. From small interventions to urban transformations, her studio engages communities to reshape shared environments. Her honours include the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, the Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture and the Architectural League of New York’s Emerging Voices Award.
raumlaborberlin, represented by Benjamin Foerster-Baldenius on November 25, presents “In the Flow of Making.” Founded in 1999, the Berlin collective works across architecture, art, performance and urban practice through experimentation, participation and the open production of space. Its projects include the Floating University and Instances of Urban Practice, awarded the Golden Lion at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale.
The spring programme begins on February 3, 2027, with designer Rubén Pater and “Design and Degrowth: Radical Abundance for Everyone.” Working as Untold Stories, Pater combines graphic design, journalism and activism to question the social, economic and environmental conditions of design. He is the author of The Politics of Design and CAPS LOCK.
On March 17, architect, writer and Yale professor Keller Easterling presents “The Mix is All.” In books including Medium Design and Extrastatecraft: The Power of Infrastructure Space, she examines spatial and political systems beyond individual buildings, from infrastructure and land to standards, protocols and global networks. Her forthcoming book, Your Land, explores US land activism emerging from the Civil Rights Movement. She received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Architecture.
Architectural scientist, designer, educator and artist Mae-ling Lokko joins the series on April 7. Through research, design and Willow Technologies in Ghana, she explores agricultural waste and renewable biobased materials through generative justice. Her distributed models challenge extractive systems and propose new material languages, participatory processes and environmental priorities.
The series concludes on April 28 with Barcelona-based architecture cooperative Lacol. Its horizontal practice combines architecture, cooperativism, housing policy, energy transition and participation. Lacol treats architecture as social infrastructure supporting collective living and long-term eco-social transition. In 2022, it received the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture—Mies van der Rohe Award in the Emerging Architecture category.
Programme
Viktor&Rolf: September 11, 2026, 1pm
IE Creative Campus, Segovia. Part of Hay Festival Segovia 2026. In collaboration with the Embassy of the Netherlands and IE Foundation. Registration.
Rozana Montiel: September 23, 2026, 7pm
IE University—Sala Valentín Díez Morodo, Madrid. In collaboration with Casa de México en España and Fundación Monumental México. Registration.
raumlaborberlin: November 25, 2026, 6pm
IE University—IE Tower, Madrid
Rubén Pater: February 3, 2027, 6pm
IE Creative Campus, Segovia. Part of Madrid Design Festival 2027.
Keller Easterling: March 17, 2027, 6pm
IE Creative Campus, Segovia
Mae-ling Lokko: April 7, 2027, 6pm
IE University—IE Tower, Madrid
Lacol: April 28, 2027, 6pm
IE Creative Campus, Segovia
COMMON(S) is organised by IE School of Architecture & Design, coordinated by Professor Grazielle Bruscato, and held across IE University’s Madrid and Segovia campuses during the 2026–27 academic year. For updates, visit the Series section of the School’s website or contact school.ad@ie.edu.
