Blurred lines acknowledgment

Over the last years, the classic Journey (Grand Tour) – whether intended as a learning mode or else as a design-oriented practice - has clearly shifted in meaning, due to easy low-cost travel associated to open digital image access and cultural globalization. The enhancement/proliferation of student exchange programmes, beyond the European setting, have definitely blurred the lines of context or social readiness and interaction. This contribution reports the experience of a PhD course aimed at overturning this predicament by amplifying, through careful case study selection, the cultural awareness within the inhabited city or region. The course, entitled Architecture as Conceived and Built, was jointly taught at the PhD Programme of the Department of Architecture Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, in May 2018, 2019 and 2020. In particular, this contribution dwells on our own “journeys with a purpose” fundamental to fine-tune a teaching method and organise the course activities accordingly.