Jul 09, 2026

New DAAD Funded Project: ARCH4HEALTH Global

Promoting Inclusive, Health-Centered Architectural Design – A Cross-Continental SDG Strategy in Education, Research, and University Management.

“How can inclusive, health-centered design be effectively integrated into architectural education across different global contexts?”

This question lies at the heart of the new DAAD-funded project ARCH4HEALTH Global, led by the Chair of Social and Healthcare Buildings and Design at the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape, TU Dresden. The project is funded through the DAAD SDG Partnerships Programme (2026–2029) and brings together partners from Germany, Egypt, and India to collaboratively develop innovative approaches to architectural education, research, and university management. The international consortium consists of TU Dresden (Germany), Galala University (Egypt), and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee (India), together with several non-university partners. Through this cross-continental collaboration, the project aims to strengthen architectural education by embedding inclusion and health-centered design into teaching, research, and institutional practice.

This project builds on the existing ARCH4HEALTH educational module developed and implemented by the Chair of Social and Healthcare Buildings and Design at TU Dresden. ARCH4HEALTH is a Student Research Lab that focuses on how architecture can respond to health and inclusion needs through investigating real-world user-centered design challenges. This module has been running since 2021, as part of TU Dresden's excellence efforts. This success has sparked interest in expanding the module internationally and co-developing a global academic track that can be implemented across different universities, enriched by diverse cultural perspectives.

The project pursues three main objectives:

Co-develop an international curriculum exploring the intersection of architectural design, inclusion, and health-centered environments.
Establish a multilingual open-access digital platform to facilitate the global dissemination and exchange of teaching methodologies, educational materials, research findings, and student projects highlights.
Strengthen institutional capacity at all partner universities through collaborative teaching, research, and university management activities focused on inclusive and health-centered design.

This is achieved through a four-year project plan spanning from 2026 to 2029, where it incorporates a wide range of measures and activities that involve 3 pillars: teaching, research, and university management. For each pillar, tailored measures are designed to achieve its goals, along with mobility activities. These include international workshops, summer school, research stays, university management exchanges, online training programs, and the establishment of Inclusive and Health-Centered Design Labs at the partner universities.

The project moves beyond the fragmented efforts by institutionalizing and integrating inclusive, health-centered design across curricula, research, and university structures. It also reframes inclusion and health as drivers of innovation in architectural design rather than a design constraint, and it establishes a unique partnership between Germany, Egypt, and India, enabling multidirectional global exchange and context-sensitive approaches, challenging traditional academic hierarchies.

Learn more about the ARCH4HEALTH Student Research Lab:
https://tu-dresden.de/bu/architektur-landschaft/ifge/s-gb/arch4health