Architecture of Intention
Orientation · Criteria · Real-world testing
A method for turning desire into direction.
You may be holding several plausible directions, roles or projects at once, or none you could name yet. Either way the question is the same: what should take priority, and what do you want to carry? Architecture of Intention starts from what you actually want and builds the answer from there.
What you want becomes criteria you can decide by, a map of the system you are moving in, and a first step you test in practice.
You need criteria.
When several options make sense at once, what decides is the measure you hold them against. What should take priority? Which consequences are you willing to carry? What belongs inside your direction, and what falls outside it?
The work begins before any single decision. It turns your desires, priorities and limits into criteria you can hold the next possibility against.
These criteria take shape in thinking, in conversation and in contact with your actual circumstances. A concrete step brings the feedback.
What Architecture of Intention is
Architecture of Intention is a method for turning unsorted desire into a direction that holds. It moves from careful observation through priorities and criteria to a map of the system you act in, and to a next step you can test.
The method is bigger than any single offering. The Autumn 2026 pilot cohort is the first ten-session group format to walk its six movements as one coherent process.
What you will have at the end
You leave with a personal decision framework. You know what takes priority, what to hold a decision against, what falls outside your direction, and which next step you actually want to try.
- a prioritised direction
- criteria for decisions
- clear exclusion criteria
- core statements and guiding questions
- a map of the relevant system
- identified leverage points
- a next step you have actually tested
Six movements of the method
01
See what is there
Separate observation from interpretation.
02
Formulate your desires
Put them into words before reason and realism step in.
03
Test what holds
Examine consequences, costs and contradictions.
04
Turn it into criteria
Develop priorities and exclusion criteria.
05
Read the system
Make relationships, resources, rules and habits visible.
06
Take a real step
Intervene, receive feedback and keep learning.
Where the approach comes from
The work with desire at the heart of the method goes back to Marianne Brün and the School for Designing a Society. Between 2012 and 2014 I lived and worked with the School in Illinois and West Virginia, and I went through this work several times myself.
Years later, when I moved on from a long career in film, those same sentences held. They made the priorities visible, and the cost of each decision.
My contribution is the composition. I made the work more accessible and joined it with methods from online facilitation and agile practice. The Living System Framework and Continuum sit underneath as frameworks of my own.
The second part is the facilitation itself. Something from a wide repertoire of embodiment and meditation practice goes into every session, chosen for what the group needs that evening. It keeps the work anchored in the body while the thinking gets precise.
The elements are tried and tested. What is new is their composition in this group format.
Why work in a group
The group is both a sounding board and a working structure. Other people notice assumptions, omissions and contradictions that are easy to miss on your own. Unfinished thoughts can be spoken and examined before they harden into answers.
Between the shared sessions you observe, write and experiment, which connects the work in the group with your everyday life.
Who the work is for
For people holding several plausible directions, roles or projects at once, and for people who cannot yet name one.
Self-employed people, freelancers, founders and employees between chapters, and equally people who are reordering personal, professional or community responsibilities.
Several projects are present at the same time.
A previous direction is losing its hold.
The next direction can be sensed but is still unclear.
No direction has shown itself yet.
Assumptions need to be tested in practice and developed through feedback.
The work needs time for observation and experiment. Acute crises, and decisions that have to be made within a few days, are better served by a different setting.
Pilot Cohort · English
Autumn 2026 pilot cohort
The elements of this work come from years of practice. This ten-session group format runs for the first time in this composition in Autumn 2026.
In a small online group you move through the six movements, keep working between sessions, and take a real next step of your own.
Format and dates
Dates
24 September to 26 November 2026
Schedule
Ten sessions across nine weeks
Time
Thursdays, 18:30 to 20:00 Berlin time
Location
Online via Zoom and a shared Miro board
Working language
English
Group size
Six to twelve participants
Application deadline
18 September 2026
Self-assessed contribution
Choose the contribution that reflects your current situation.
€250 · Social
The complete ten-session group process at a reduced contribution for people on a low income or experiencing financial pressure.
€450 · Standard
The complete ten-session group process at the regular contribution.
€700 · Supporter
The complete group process plus two 60-minute 1:1 sessions, bookable during the cohort or within four weeks after it ends.
The Supporter contribution also helps keep Social places available.
Apply for the pilot cohort
Two short questions, then I get in touch for a one-to-one conversation. There are six to twelve places, and applications close on 18 September 2026.
FAQ
What is Architecture of Intention?
A method for turning unsorted desire into criteria, a prioritised direction, a map of the relevant system and a next step you have tested in practice.
What does pilot cohort mean?
The elements of the method come from years of practice. The ten-session group format runs for the first time in this composition in Autumn 2026.
Who is the current cohort for?
For people holding several plausible directions, roles or projects at once, and for people who cannot yet name one. Both start from what they actually want and build a direction that holds.
How long does the cohort run, and in which language?
Ten online sessions across nine weeks. The working language is English.
What does it cost?
There are three self-assessed contributions: €250 Social, €450 Standard and €700 Supporter. The Supporter contribution includes two 60-minute one-to-one sessions and helps keep Social places available.