The Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities (MAEBB) postgraduate program is an 11-month immersive academic program focused on learning how to design and build a new generation of buildings and cities to respond to the planet’s emerging climate challenges. The program is carried out in Valldaura Labs, in Barcelona, a 135 He property located in the Collserola forest. Here, students will live and work surrounded by nature while using the most advanced technologies and design techniques in the pursuit of what is also IAAC’s long term initiative, to create self-sufficient and ecological environments.
Abstract and purposeThe collapse of the European wool value chain—processing shifted east, traditional breeds producing coarse, low‑value fibre, and raw fleece often classed as waste—coincides with a crisis in ceiling construction: high embodied carbon, linear material flows, and aesthetic loss. This thesis proposes CatVa: a prefabricated compressed earth–grog block reinforced with directionally aligned waste wool … Read more
Thermodynamic invariants as architectural constraints on machine learning for recycled-aggregate mix design Santhosh Shyamsundar · MAEBB02 · Valldaura Labs, IAAC · 2024–2026 The micro-scale matter the kernel’s thermodynamics, transport, and strength engines must keep mutually consistent. SEM image after Kafedra434, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0), recoloured by the author. An irreversible material under a reversible … Read more
In the Augmented & Mixed Reality class learnt how to work with unity game engine to create an individual projects that would support our thesis investigations in an interactive way. This project explores how digital tools can reintroduce play, creativity, and spontaneity into the contemporary city. Developed as part of my urban play thesis, the … Read more
In our final project for the Large-Scale 3D Printing with Biomaterials workshop at IAAC, we developed a temporary acoustic barrier made from recycled cork and bio-based binders. The proposal rethinks permanence in architecture by designing a material system that can serve a specific event, then return to the soil after use. Project Concept The project … Read more
Santhosh Shyamsundar · IAAC / MAEBB02reMIXED REALITY Seminar · Advanced Manufacturing 2025/26 Beyond the 28-Day Blind Spot In contemporary construction, concrete quality is traditionally verified by “crushing cylinders” 28 days after pouring. This lag creates a critical information asymmetry: by the time a defect is confirmed, the material is already structural. MaOS Unity XR addresses … Read more
Atticus Cummings MAEBB02 2025/2026 Professor Davide Rovera A startup is a temporary tool for gaining an understanding of a market and business model. In the IAAC business Entrepreneurship Seminar we learned about how to explore a potential startup idea, validate the problem, engage and validate customers, quantify a market opportunity, evaluate competition, fund a startup, … Read more
As the generations who have grown up around video games reach an age where they are beginning to buy homes, architects should provide advanced and easily navigable interfaces for people to interact with architecture. We should provide basic information on project mission and sustainability etc. and then allow potential customers to explore the designs in … Read more
Our Collective Design Goals As designers, we see this project as an opportunity to create a play environment that is genuinely functional, inclusive, and meaningful for children, while deepening our own understanding of how design can support play, curiosity, and well-being. We aim to learn basic design, fabrication and installation with wood as a material. … Read more
TULIP WINDOWS Taking inspiration from: Little Island by Heatherwick Studios, New York (2021) we replicated the landscape pillars onto a building facade by rotating them to the XZ plane. The extruding pillars are window opening that vary in size depending on solar raditation needed per area in the building. The objective is to recreate the … Read more
Zero waste acorn flour production in Barcelona Quirky Quercus is a cottage industry aiming to transform locally collected acorns fallen from the parks of Barcelona into flour. The product is designed to use all parts of the tree, including the acorn shells, leaves, and oak bark to make a biomaterial packaging. This project strengthens connections … Read more
Crafting Nature’s Palette for Sustainable Printing Introduction For our ecological interactions class, we were tasked with creating a place specific cottage industry, that takes local natural resources and turns them into unique products for the community. The cottage industry should be mostly self-sufficient, and should use resources intentionally and responsibly, to promote longevity and healthy … Read more
Tornant a l’olivera was born from a simple belief: that the most nourishing products come from landscapes that are alive, respected, and cared for. Based in Catalunya, we work with regenerative olive groves where resilient olive trees coexist with aromatic undergrowth—lavender, rosemary, and native plants that strengthen ecosystems and shape the character of each harvest. … Read more
The Galaxia Temple was the crown of Black Rock City at Burning Man 2018. Translating the graceful ascending curves into a facade required identifying the core components of the facade. The rising Mandala shape is the most easily identifiable component, when one breaks down that shape it is clear the swooping curves unfurling from the … Read more
For our Advanced Digital Tools term one final project, we were tasked with designing a building facade based on inspiration from pavilion architecture or existing facades, using Grasshopper. Pavilion Inspiration – The Toledo Gridshell The inspiration for our facade is the Toledo Gridshell constructed in a courtyard in the Naples School of Architecture. When researching … Read more
This project is in reference to the 2025 Serpentine Pavilion by Marina Tabassum “Inspired by summer park-going and arched garden canopies that filter soft daylight through green foliage, the structure is comprised of four wooden sculptural forms with a translucent façade that diffuses and dapples light when it enters the space. Integral to Tabassum’s design … Read more
Reference Geometry: Los Manantiales – by Felix Candela Decoding the Hypar Logic Félix Candela used hyperbolic paraboloids (hypars) made from straight lines.The restaurant roof is composed of 4 identical shells.The geometry is based on a square, diagonal supports, and straight-line grids. Hyperbolic Paraboloid Drawing by Candela Deriving the shape from Hypar Mirroring the derived element … Read more
