Susanne Brorson is currently finalizing her Phd Research on “Climate & Typology – climate-responsive design strategies in vernacular farmsteads and settlements in the Baltic Sea area” at Technical University of Berlin, Institute of Architecture, Department CODE Construction and Design, Prof. Ralf Pasel and the Institute of Urban Future, Potsdam School of Architecture, Department of Climate-responsive and resource-optimised Building, Prof. Dr. Michael Prytula. For her research Susanne Brorson has been awarded a scholarship from the “Female professorship programme of the Federal State of Germany”.


The dissertation is a typological research on architectural design principles that have been influenced by local climate and environmental conditions found with several case studies of vernacular residential buildings around the Baltic Sea. The work is exploring the potential application of local building tradition in contemporary, simple and sustainable housing architecture.

“Baltic Vernacular” is a teaching format – or better architectural laboratory! – through which Susanne Brorson has been experimenting with students how climate-responsiveness in traditional architecture could be useful knowledge in today’s architectural practice.

“Baltic Vernacular” started off as a lecture series on climate-responsive architecture and a design seminar at Potsdam School of Architecture in 2017, and was then continued in 2018 as an experimental design laboratory on climate architecture at the chair of Building Typology at Brandenburg Technical University in Cottbus. Baltic Vernacular 3 took place in 2020 as an architectural design laboratory “Climate as a Design Factor” at Wismar University of Applied Sciences.

THE BALTIC VERNACULAR ARCHIVE coming up soon!
www.balticvernacular.com