DOMA SUMMER SCHOOL 2026

Overview

DOMa Summer School is an international architectural workshop. By engaging important figures globally and sparking conversation locally, the DOMa Summer School aims to enrich architectural education.

Brief

Express Skopelitis is a small boat that connects the Small Cyclades islands with the larger islands at the heart of the Aegean archipelago. For decades, it has symbolised, in the collective memory, the experience of travelling to a remote Greek island, while for locals it has been one of the most important means of transport for both people and goods. Of course, recent tourism development in the Aegean has altered this condition. Due to mass tourism, some islands have become better connected in order to accommodate the rapidly rising number of summer visitors. This has also resulted in increased travel during the winter to support the booming construction industry that comes with it. Ports, airports and roads were constructed, along with hotels, villas, and other infrastructure.

`Few islands still evoke a pre-tourism era, where the image of the place has not been transformed into a spectacle. One of them is Iraklia. Iraklia remains at a stage its neighbouring islands were probably at fifteen years ago, before the wave of mass tourism arrived. Still largely undeveloped, it has modest tourism infrastructure and a very small community mainly engaged in construction, agriculture, livestock farming, and fishing. The island’s two settlements—the port village and the main village (Chora)—are almost deserted in winter, with many locals returning in spring for the tourist season.

Why has Iraklia remained untouched by the surrounding islands’ wave of development? What is the nature of this undefined, unformed, and invisible force of preservation that has shielded the place from being submerged by unrestrained tourism? Should we aspire to—or advocate for—preserving this condition against overtourism? Or rather see it as an opportunity to observe and map from an accidental glimpse of a decelerated pathway toward the island’s presumed (post-)modernisation?

Architects usually set foot on islands only after receiving a commission to build a villa or a hotel; rarely is their opinion sought on matters of the public realm. The workshop at Iraklia therefore offers a valuable opportunity to challenge this trajectory of architectural practice. To visit a place where no swimming pool has yet been built is to open up a space for reflection on alternative futures—both for the island itself and for the discipline of architecture.

Venue

The workshop will take place at Irakleia Gymnasium, which this year marks its 100th anniversary.

Accomodation

Students will stay at Anna’s Place, a group of studio apartments in the Port settlement, 5’ from the School and 15’ from Livadi, the island’s main beach.

Curators

SUMMACUMFEMMER architects is an architecture practice from Leipzig, Germany. Their work investigates architecture as a cultural and spatial practice shaped by social conditions, material realities, and collective processes. Through projects that range from built work to exhibitions, publications, and educational initiatives, they explore questions of inhabitation, authorship, and the politics of space.

With a strong interest in learning-by-doing and site-specific experimentation, SUMMACUMFEMMER place education at the core of their practice, treating it as a form of architectural production in its own right. As curators of the DOMa Summer School 2026, they bring a critical and hands-on approach that encourages participants to engage deeply with context, process, and collaboration, positioning architecture as both a tool for inquiry and a framework for collective imagination.

Outcome

SUMMACUMFEMMER will transport their tool library by road from Germany, enabling the workshop participants to design and construct an installation in the public space of Irakleia.

Participation fee

The participation fee includes accommodation (7 nights), ferry tickets, and attendance of the workshop.

Five-bed room – €200 / person
Four-bed room – €300 / person
Triple room – €400 / person
Double room – €500 / person

Participation

Due to the exceptionally high level of interest, the submission of new applications is currently on hold. We warmly thank you for your interest and response.

Eligibility

Participation is open exclusively to currently enrolled students.