This paper presents an overview of the Sustainable Design Unit (SDU) Studio at the University of Nicosia, an innovative architectural education initiative that integrates social and environmental sustainability into the architecture curriculum. Focused on designing self-sustained communities, the studio bridges theory and practice, equipping fourth and fifth year students to address pressing global and speculative future challenges.

The SDU Studio adopts a holistic, interdisciplinary approach, viewing sustainability as a cultural, ecological, and socio-political concern rather than a purely technical one. Students critically engage with environmental ethics, equity, diversity, and systems thinking, developing individual research questions and design proposals that integrate ecological, social, and economic sustainability.

Site analysis and contextual grounding are central pedagogical tools. In early years, students shared a complex urban park site, developing skills in ecological assessment, emotional place mapping, and master planning. Later, students were encouraged to select their own sites, ranging from post-industrial landscapes on Earth to speculative habitats on the Moon and Mars, fostering personalized, research-driven design responses to diverse environmental and social conditions.

Assignments follow a phased research-through-design process: theoretical and contextual research; detailed site and scenario analysis; and iterative architectural design and prototyping. Students develop proposals for communities of around 1,000 inhabitants that include housing, education, healthcare, food systems, energy infrastructure, and cultural and economic facilities. A unique aspect is the inclusion of fictional governance and social structures, blending creativity and realism to envision inclusive, resilient futures.

The curriculum integrates lectures, workshops, and critiques by interdisciplinary faculty and international guest experts. Topics include bioclimatic design, circular economies, regenerative systems, and social sustainability frameworks. Assessment criteria emphasize critical analysis, research integration, conceptual clarity, collaborative methods, media skills, and final design quality.

The studio’s thematic focus has evolved in response to shifting global realities, from Slow Life and quality of life, to social sustainability, and now to self-sustained communities. This reflects a growing urgency around climate change, resource depletion, and social fragmentation.

Designing for extreme environments, including deserts, post-extractive sites, polar regions, and extraplanetary landscapes, pushes students to transcend conventional boundaries. Architecture is framed as an adaptive ecosystem that fosters survival, cultural continuity, and emotional well-being.

Lessons learned highlight the value of student enthusiasm, interdisciplinary collaboration, and a balance between structure and creative autonomy. The SDU Studio exemplifies a forward-thinking model of sustainability education, embedding ecological ethics and social responsibility into architectural identity.

By embedding architectural design within interconnected systems of environment, society, and economy, and extending the design horizon from Earth to space, the studio cultivates architects equipped to shape inclusive, resilient, and self-sustained communities.

Keywords: Self-sustained communities, Sustainable architecture, Social sustainability, Architectural education.