Beyond the classroom: hands-on activities for a tactical action in a university campus courtyard

The paper reports the outcomes of a circular design and self-construction workshop developed with master's degree students in architecture and design at the Politecnico di Torino (Italy). The project is set in a real-world context, which the hands-on activities aim to transform and improve. The activities allowed experimentation with “circular” construction solutions, starting with the use of waste materials as a resource, which led to the creation of furniture in the courtyard of the university campus, transforming it from a fragile space to a place with a new collective value. The learning experience is aimed not only at the acquisition of practical skills by students, but also at reflecting on how to transform waste into a new material for projects, through a low-cost tactical action that started from a need of the students and was developed by the students themselves, involved in the construction of a community space.