It’s been a while ago, but nevertheless it’s newsworthy: in September 2024, a group of students, joined by our expert in ancient technology Wulf Hein, took stock of the hut for a bit of refurbishing. It had faced the forces of time and weather for over a year and had started to deteriorate in accordance with the properties of the materials that we used in its construction, as testified by Prof. Linda Hurcombe, expert on material culture in prehistory.

Getting the hut back into shape was organised as a so-called micro challenge – a two-hour workshop format with a hands-on component offered during the Una Europa Student Congress. The overarching theme of the congress was Dis-/Assemble: Reinventing the University, and out maintenance work fitted very well into the idea of re-assembling in a very literal sense.

The activity brought together a diverse and engaged group of students from various Una Europa partner universities, each with their different courses of study and the knowledge drawn from a variety of disciplines. While engaging in hands-on building activities, we discussed the relevance of architectural structures for human social interaction, for the development of coordination and the role of language in that essential human task.

After a few hours of work and exchange, we proudly presented the newly refurbished hut – a big thank you again to all participants and Wulf for his continued support of the project!