This research seminar will explore infrastructure and their transformative potential in contemporary urban environments. The bias the seminar will bring to this discussion is the notion of ephemerality in designing infrastructure and the innovative lens through which this crucial aspect of any settlement can be reimagined. As cities confront rapid demographic, environmental, and sociocultural shifts, impermanent infrastructures have emerged as critical tools for addressing transient needs and fostering dynamic public engagement. Innovative Infrastructures: Designing for Impermanence interrogates the design, materiality, and societal impacts of temporary structures, proposing a systematic classification to analyze their diverse applications across global urban contexts.

Students will explore infrastructures designed for transient use, including event-based pavilions, emergency shelters, mobile workspaces, and participatory art installations. These interventions could span categories such as art/speculation, mobility, community, entertainment, health, water, and sanitation, reflecting their multifunctional roles in contemporary cities. Through case studies and critical readings, the course examines how ephemeral architectures challenge conventional notions of permanence, prioritizing flexibility, user agency, and rapid deployment.

Key questions guiding the course include: How do we define the boundaries between ephemeral and permanent infrastructure in urban contexts? What are the key factors that determine the lifespan of ephemeral structures? How can we measure the social impact of temporary urban interventions? What role does technology play in enabling more adaptive and responsive ephemeral infrastructures? How do different cultural contexts influence the design and reception of ephemeral structures? What design strategies balance spectacle with utilitarian function? Can temporary interventions democratize urban space, or do they risk perpetuating exclusion under the guise of flexibility? How do we define the line between what can be considered infrastructure and otherwise a folly? This seminar interrogates the notion of deployment and how that might influence the design of a system and conversely how redeployment or reuse could influence the imagination of infrastructure.

Through interdisciplinary analysis, students will produce case studies and speculative proposals. These outputs aim to redefine infrastructure not as static edifice but as adaptive (building) systems that embrace uncertainty, resource constraints, and collaborative authorship. The format of this course is that of a research seminar where the students, with the instructor, will collectively craft a framework at the start of the course such that this research endeavor could be collated in the form of a publication and/ or exhibition.