Over the course of a week, students explored how infrastructure, history, and community intersect and saw firsthand how meaningful mobility infrastructure can emerge when it’s rooted in a place's cultural and ecological layers.
The trip brought together around 30 students and three teachers from the MSc MADE program. In small thematic groups, they explored various areas on the outskirts of Prague, each offering a unique perspective on the city’s past, present, and future. The atmosphere was characterized by a mix of collaboration, intense group work, and shared curiosity, with plenty of time for spontaneous discoveries along the way.
The value of transdisciplinary work
A key takeaway for many students was the importance of physically experiencing the places they are planning for. By walking the routes, spotting informal paths, and engaging with locals, they could ground their design proposals in reality. This experience highlighted the significance of working across disciplines, which is a core principle of the MSc MADE program.
The students collaborated with the Institute of Planning and Development (IPR) throughout the week. Through presentations, site visits, and shared discussions, IPR helped situate the students’ work within Prague’s broader urban strategy. Their openness and local expertise were crucial to the learning experience.
Exploring lost paths
Each group tackled a different “lost path” in the outskirts of Prague, reimagining how these forgotten routes could reconnect the city and countryside, enhance biodiversity, or preserve cultural memory. The fieldwork helped students to analyze the current situation, identify spatial opportunities, and propose site-specific interventions.
In addition to their case studies, the IPR and the Deputy Mayor of Prague organized excursions for the students. These outings covered various topics, including public space design, water management, and Prague’s unique governance model. They discovered that there are over 3,500 kilometers of lost paths in the municipality, most of which disappeared during the collectivization period in the second half of the 20th century.
Excursion with the Deputy Mayor
Projects were organized around four intersecting themes, with each group consisting of students focused on:
- Mobility & infrastructure
- Green infrastructure, environmentalism & biodiversity
- Historical and cultural layers
- Stakeholder engagement & community participation
This cross-cutting structure ensured each proposal remained rooted in context while benefiting from a variety of perspectives.
Being on-site makes all the difference
One of the strongest takeaways was that spatial planning cannot happen from a distance. Context and collaboration are crucial. Careful design requires looking beyond just maps and considering the lived experiences of a place. For many, this experience was a reminder of why being on-site, in conversation with both the people and the landscape, is at the core of meaningful urban design.