The MAA is a visionary master program with an innovative and open structure, mixing diverse disciplines, shaping professionals capable of producing theoretical & practical solutions towards responsive cities, architecture & technology.
People’s Stage
The project People’s Theatre addresses the growing obsolescence of cultural heritage buildings under overlapping social, economic, and climatic pressures. Using Teatre Arnau in El Raval as a case study, the project investigates how adaptive reuse can reposition a historically commodified theatre as a socio-economic commons ” This research investigates how adaptive reuse of Teatre Arnau … Read more
InBetween
“A transitional housing system that buffers the tsunami of migration” Project Description The project proposes a transitional housing system for people arriving in Barcelona for work or study, including students, young professionals, and temporary workers. It responds to the growing demand for short-term and interim living solutions in a city under increasing demographic and housing … Read more
Decisionless: An intelligent living system as the last decision you will ever make
Abstract This Introductory Studio project explores technology, artificial intelligence (AI), systems thinking, computational design and their impact on architecture and urban living. Drawing from complexity theory, ecology, and AI discourse, it frames architecture as an adaptive, self-organizing system rather than a static object. Barcelona serves as the case study—a dense city constrained by geography and … Read more
L.O.O.P
Letamendi’s Organic Operations Plan Introductory Studio G1The Future of Density – Rethinking the Cerdá Block Faculty: Carmelo Zappulla, Sebastian Amorelli, and Amin Bigdeli Housing is one of the most urgent challenges of the twenty-first century. Ildefons Cerdàʼs nineteenth-century plan set the foundations for Barcelonaʼs future, imagining equal access to light, air, and infrastructure. The question … Read more
Mining The City
“Metabolising waste into habitat in a resource-scarce future” “Mining the City” reconceives legacy industrial infrastructure as an active force for urban regeneration and material resilience. Rather than treating waste as a problem to be discarded, this project positions Barcelona’s material flows from household refuse to industrial by-products as the resource base for a new metabolic … Read more
SUN SHY
Creating a kinetic facade with no human intervention Light-Sensitive Dynamic Facade (Seeeduino Lotus Prototype) This prototype uses the Seeeduino Lotus microcontroller to create a responsive building facade that automatically adjusts to surrounding light conditions. A set of light sensors (LDRs) measure real-time sunlight intensity across different areas of the facade. Based on these readings, the … Read more
The Can Ricart Regeneration Project
Design Ethos This project seeks to explore how issues of stagnation and obsolescence can be tackled whilst still enabling socio-economic and technological developments of our urban spaces. It will explore how they can be applied within architecture to evaluate how we can more effectively address issues of erasure whilst still permitting modern interventions and advancements … Read more
ARCAI
AI-Powered Sustainable Building Design Platform for Architecture Firms. Architects lack efficient tools to optimize sustainability during the early design phase—when 80% of a building’s environmental impact is determined. Real-time sustainability optimization integrated directly into your design workflow.
Cloud Transparent Pavilion
Group includes: Nguyen Vu Tue Minh (Chloe) & Eduardo Martinez Toribio //OVERALL DESIGN OBJECTIVE //PRECEDENT: TEMPORARY PARAMETRIC PAVILION //COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN SYSTEM USING CRYSTALLON //MATERIAL RESEARCH: GLASS-REINFORCED RECYCLED PET (GR-RPET) //ANALYSIS Total Mass: 191.8 (kg) Natural Vibration Analysis Frequency: 9.45 (Hz) Max Displacement: 0.125 (m) //OPTIMISATION: GOALS & TARGET //OPTIMISATION: RESULTS //OPTIMISATION: LIGHTNESS VS STIFFNESS Baseline: … Read more
LIGHT AS A NEURO-ADAPTIVE INTERFACE
This thesis explores light as a neuro-adaptive architectural interface that responds to human physiological and emotional states. By translating biosignals such as GSR, EEG, and ECG into dynamic lighting behaviors, the research proposes a shift from static light control systems to empathic, responsive environments. The project combines physical prototypes and spatial experiments to investigate how … Read more
Reviving Bab Al-Luq
Reviving Bab Al-Luq is a project of IAAC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia developed in the MACAD 2025/26 by Zeynep Sezen Dursun and Faculty: Hesham Shawqy and Angeliki Maragakis. Inspiration & Design Decisions This project aims to explore light and computational architectural design concerning the illumination, ventilation, and attraction in the design of the … Read more
Compl-AI: AI system for predicting building-code compliance in residential construction
Current construction projects lack a reliable early-warning system to predict building-code compliance issues, which leads to delays, rework, safety risks and higher project cost. Traditional inspections usually occur near the end of construction. This makes it difficult to correct issues efficiently and increases the risk of delays and safety concerns. Visual problems such as unsafe … Read more
EGITTO SKIN
Team member(s):MAHMOUD MOHAMED Modified by MAHMOUD MOHAMED on December 12, 2025 SITE AND EXISTING BUILDING Egypt, often reverently hailed as the “Mother of All Lands,” stands as one of the oldest and most influential civilizations in the vast chronicle of human history. Its legacy is not merely a collection of ruins or artifacts; it is a … Read more
