Harvard University Experts Join Design Entrepreneurship Workshops at IE University

Segovia, 27 January 2026 -  The IE School of Architecture and Design concluded its Design Entrepreneurship Workshops at the IE Creative Campus in Segovia, where fourth-year architecture students developed proposals that engage context, society, technology, and emerging business models with strategic intent. 

The workshops were led by visiting critics Scott Cohen and Belinda Tato from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, alongside Melinda Matuz from UNS, and culminated in final reviews joined by David Goodman, Dean of IE School of Architecture & Design; Romina Canna, Director of the school's d-Lab ; and Jerónimo van Schendel, Academic Director of the Master in Business for Architecture and Design at IE University.

Structured as a project-based laboratory, the workshops challenged students to combine architectural experimentation with entrepreneurial thinking, testing how design ideas can evolve into propositions that address cultural relevance, feasibility, and public impact. 

Working in three groups across heritage, sustainability, and professional practice, students developed proposals that reflect architecture’s capacity to operate simultaneously as design, system, and enterprise. They used Segovia’s historic infrastructures—particularly the Aqueduct and its surrounding urban fabric—as a site for critical inquiry and design speculation, a coastal tourism case study in Sri Lanka as a reference, and a simulated response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) within the framework of an architectural practice.

Scott Cohen challenged his group to explore the theme of permanence and impermanence by designing a temporary exhibition structure in Segovia's Azoguejo Square that could partially pass through the Aqueduct’s arches without touching the historic fabric, while minimally occupying the square. The central question was whether a temporary architectural intervention, conceived with sufficient symbolic, functional, and pedagogical strength, could justify becoming permanent over time—echoing precedents such as the Eiffel Tower. Within this framework, projects investigated structural ingenuity, reversibility, material logic, and the relationship between monument and contemporary public life.

Belinda Tato introduced students to entrepreneurial thinking within the context of complex sustainable projects, using a coastal tourism case study in Sri Lanka as a reference. Rather than focusing on a single architectural object, students developed strategic, process-oriented frameworks capable of addressing environmental, social, and economic challenges simultaneously. The work emphasized systems thinking, resilience, and long-term vision, asking students to design methodologies and operational strategies that integrate ecology, infrastructure, governance, and community needs.

The third group, led by Melinda Matuz, focused on the relationship between architecture and the business structures that support it. Students simulated the creation of architectural practices and responded to a Request for Proposal (RFP), learning how branding, positioning, project management, and strategic communication influence design decisions. Through this exercise, students experienced architecture as both a creative and entrepreneurial discipline, understanding how proposals are developed, framed, and presented to secure real opportunities.