During the second year of the Master in Advanced Architecture + Thesis Project (MAA02), students have the unique opportunity to work for a period of 1 year on an Individual Thesis Project, focused on the development of a research or pilot project based on the student’s interest, and the learnings of the first year. IAAC supports the student in selecting their Thesis Project topic in order to better orient them according to their future career interests and opportunities. Each student, according to their specific topic, is assigned one or more Thesis Advisors that follow the development of the work throughout the year.
In parallel to the development of the Individual Thesis Project, the second year of the MAA02 offers a series of seminars enhancing the theoretical, practical and computational skills of the students.
AIM The housing crisis in Spain stems from rising prices, stagnant construction, and growing demand, leaving many unable to afford housing, highlighting the need for urgent, sustainable solutions. Spain Time line of the Housing crisis Long Term trend Housing crisis AFFORDABLE HOUSING by 2035 Material comparison Homeless people Data Site documentation Typology – I Joint … Read more
Introduction The course was an intensive, five-day workshop dedicated to calculating the carbon impact and exploring innovative solutions for the upcoming IAAC building. The goal was to present a proposal that could reduce the emissions in 40%. Location The design for the new IAAC building has already been approved and is now awaiting construction. Located … Read more
Bringing Producers, Consumers and Nature Together This project aims to connect local food producers, consumers, and nature in a symbolic way. The metaphor of a “table” represents unity and sustenance, gathering people across different genders, ages, and social classes. This installation, built from waste materials and invasive plants like Pontederia Crassipes, doubles as an ecosystem, … Read more
Transforming Conventional Architectural Element Compositions for CO2 Sequestration/ecological interactions Living Parts is a project that tries to bridge the gap between anthropocentric and nature-centric design. As we already know that that the building industry, in the past couple of centuries has caused major harm to the environment with things like producing toxic waste, waste energy, … Read more
The excessive waste produced in countries worldwide is a grave and unignorable concern. Urbanization contributes to enhanced municipal solid waste generation, harming health and the environment. Landfills, globally emit thousands of tons of methane gas into the air, 30 times more harmful than CO2. Waste is not waste but a resource if managed judiciously. The … Read more
Urbanizing degrowth: Five steps towards a Radical Spatial Degrowth Agenda for planning in the face of climate emergency
“Framed by the environmental crisis and taking into account the thermal and structural inefficiency of the existing building stock, this thesis will be an exploration on architecturally and structurally meaningful elements, as plugin systems to address the need for retrofitting. The main objective is to provide alternatives of structural retrofitting methods by utilizing robotic fabrication … Read more
The second year students of Master in Advanced Architecture (MAA) and Master in Robotics and Advanced Construction (MRAC) participate in Llum BCN 2024 with LA CREMADA / THE BURN, an immersive interactive installation that delves deep into the world of wildfires, their origins, impacts, and the critical need for understanding and prevention. The installation, located at Plaça Les Arts, C/ … Read more
Shining Rebirth is a project about the circular lives of float glass, aluminium frame and polycarbonate roofing. Related materials are taken from IAAC atelier, with numbers, dimensions and conditions properly analysed. Carbon footprint as each stage of life is calculated, with deconstruction steps properly considered. In order to propose a new life for these materials, … Read more
Employing a passive design strategy for construction can be a viable way to address this issue since buildings use the majority of the energy consumed in a city for heating and cooling space. The goal of the study is to create a passive heating and cooling system in a controlled environment by experimenting with the … Read more
Posidonia Oceanica In the Mediterranean, most plant debris is made up of the species Posidonia Oceanica (L.) Delile, asuperior plant that is endemic to this sea. It forms extensive meadows from the shallowest areas of the coast to variable depths, depending on how deep light can penetrate the water to enable photosynthesis to take place. … Read more
AIR COMFORT The air comfort depends on the gases and particulate matters in the air. The gases consist of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and ozone. As well as the gases there are particulate matters in air which are categorised depending on their diameter. The main categories are the PM2.5 and PM10. In 2021 WHO … Read more
THESIS ABSTRACT The critical global issue of sustainability and circular economies is a core issue that demands attention in the construction industry. A specific environmental concern in this regard is the production and utilisation of cement. This process is one that has significantly detrimental effects on the environment due to the large volumes of carbon … Read more
This immersive installation was developed for Barcelona’s LLUM festival Feb 3-5, 2023. A series of dynamic visuals projected on the ground integrated with ambient audio, where visitors’ movements are tracked using a depth camera and processed in a computer to produce interactive visuals. The volume of the audio is responsive to the number of people … Read more
