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.


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Casa Tosquella: The Mending of the Commons

Heritage is not memoryHeritage is Production + Community In the dense urban fabric of Sant Gervasi, Casa Tosquella sleeps a Modernista jewel originally conceived as a summer retreat, now stranded in a city grappling with permanent heat. This project explores the tension between heritage preservation and climatic urgency. The proposal views the building not as … 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

The Timber Wave

This pavilion explores the dialogue between wood and waves through a parametric system of assembled timber elements shaped by coastal forces. Inspired by the rhythm of tides and the grain of wood, its fluid geometry oscillates between structure and motion, shelter and openness. The project merges digital design with natural material intelligence, creating a lightweight … Read more

The Woven Contrast

Cover page for the IAAC Computational Design I Seminar. The image features a parametric, twisted wooden structure in the foreground against a dark, point-cloud digital background. Text lists the Faculty as Akshay Madapura and Shrey Kapur, and Students as Kalaitzidis Nikolaos and Sejin Park.

COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN I SEMINAR25/26 MAA01 (Level2) Abstract: Computational Weaving. This project, developed for the Computational Design I Seminar, explores the algorithmic generation of complex, recursive geometries through the logic of “Digital Craft”. Inspired by the material constraints of steam-bent timber, the design creates a “volumetric weave” rather than a simple surface. The computational workflow is … Read more

THE MANUFACTURED VERNACULAR 

Image of comparison between a vernacular structure and a modern structure

Turning time-tested vernacular intelligence into scalable, multi-hazard self sufficient building INTRODUCTION See this image above? yes, its comparison between two structures that survived a 6.8 rector scale earthquake in year 2005. The ironic part is , that these vernacular structures hold the carbon friendly intelligence responding towards climate adaptation and structural resistance against earthquakes, yet … Read more

Digital Fabrication Library

In today’s architectural landscape, digital fabrication has significantly expanded the way we design and construct building elements—offering unprecedented accuracy, efficiency, and formal freedom. Techniques such as laser cutting, CNC milling, 3D printing, and robotic manufacturing each bring distinct advantages in terms of material behavior, geometric complexity, and performance potential. RE:CELL Concept The Re:Cell is a … Read more

Morphologies of Making: Four Experiments in Digital Craft

Our digital fabrication journey unfolds through four experiments that explore how material, geometry, and technology negotiate form. Each project challenges a different fabrication technique: laser cutting, CNC milling, 3D printing, and robotic manufacturing, while asking a deeper question: How does digital logic reshape the language of craft? Laser Cutting Tessellated Lightfield This project explores the … Read more

Tectonics of Digital Craft

Digital fabrication enables designers to explore geometries that go beyond traditional construction constraints. The exercise focuses on translating complex geometries into constructible systems that integrate material behaviour, joinery logic, and mass customisation. Each technique allows experimentation with unique fabrication constraints, informing the evolution of the vertical element design. The outputs serve as material and geometric … Read more

TriAxial Dynamics

3D Printing | Kinetic Facade | CONCEPT | The project draws its primary inspiration from the dynamic, sun-responsive mashrabiya system of the Al Bahr Towers in Abu Dhabi. What captivated me was the sharp visual contrast between conventional, static façade geometries often rectilinear or triangulated and the refined kinetic intelligence embedded in these triangular adaptive … Read more

From Waste to Venus

Upcycled Timber Retrofit Strategies for aClimate-Conscious Transformation of the VenusBuilding. Context Why Retrofitting MattersBuildings account for nearly 30% of global carbon emissions, with most of today’s housing stock expected to remain in use beyond 2050. In this context, the built environment becomes both a challenge and an opportunity for climate action. Retrofitting allows us to … Read more

SKYLOFT

MODULAR PODS VERTICAL EXTENSIONS To address urgent urban housing needs, this thesis explores modular rooftop pods using Digital Twins, CNC fabrication, kerfing, and timber joinery—enabling precise, low-waste, minimum tool required for assembling and sustainable expansion of aging urban buildings through scalable and prefabricated Modular systems Why Vertical extension required ? What’s the purpose of the … Read more

Go With The Flow

Computational Fluid Dynamics for Natural Ventilated Systems primarily located within the United States The Problem within Context: Sears Catalogue from 1930s to 1950s United States. The American Dream is a phrase that has taken meaning in the ownership of a home with a white picket fence. The phrase was popularized in the 1930s after WWI … Read more

TÀN 58

TÀN 58 is a seven-story student housing project located in Poblenou, an industrial district of Barcelona. The building’s form and orientation were shaped through computational studies that optimized daylight access and solar radiation across the site. This analysis led to the introduction of two central atriums, which act as vertical heat sources and organizational cores—spaces … Read more

KINXA | The future built with tradition

Vernacular architecture has steadily lost relevance in contemporary practice. Industrialized construction methods, aesthetic shifts, and the pursuit of perceived reliability in materials like concrete and steel have overshadowed traditional techniques. However, these modern materials often come at a high environmental cost. Among the overlooked methods is quincha, a construction technique common in Latin America. It … Read more