During the first six months in the program, students are comprehensively trained in the principles of design and construction of advanced ecological buildings through a series of focused and intense modules, which include material production, thermal and metabolic building systems, ecological structures and façade systems and much more. After developing the necessary skills and a holistic understanding of advanced and ecological design, students collectively draft and build a full scale ecological building prototype.

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Computational Design Seminar: Cellular Partition Wall

Reuben Diamond & Pragyna Thondapu Our Goal: To create a parametric partition wall shelving system for a bedroom within the Valldaura Labs student quarters, inspired by nature. Partition Wall Concept: Cellular CascadeWe designed a partition wall inspired by nature, achieving an organic form and a natural aesthetic while ensuring structural integrity. The wall stands independently … Read more

Log seats-The Stumpies

The project “Log seats” explores the idea of using cut-wooden logs as playground elements for secondary school students to help create better playground environment. Objective The main aim of the project was to fabricate a seating element in the secondary school playground of Colegi Mare de Déu dels Angels in the city of Barcelona. The … Read more

Computational Design Seminar

As the final assignment for the discipline of Advanced Digital Tools, we were asked to create a dynamic partition wall in one of our dormitoriesusing computational design principles. The chosen one was room nº 8 of Valldaura Labs, with an area of 9.48m². To allow free movement for both dwellers, the wall was designed to … Read more

Waste Wood Reworks Series: Stools

As my first woodworking project at Valldaura, I aimed to choose a simple design to familiarize myself with the tools and the process of working with this unique material. Being new to this, I was eager and excited to begin. The project began with my fascination and appreciation for the natural qualities and weathering of … Read more

Translucent Snoring

The Assignment to build a parametric partition wall suites the needs for more privacy in our shared rooms in Valldaura. The problem that we wanted to solve was to create a partition wall that provides privacy and acts as a sound diffuser while letting daylight from the window passing through. Approach We came up with … Read more

Design and Fabrication 1 Trimester

The excitement was immense after nearly two weeks of living in Valldaura, as we were finally about to use the Fablab and all its machines. However, the excitement dimmed slightly when we learned that the CNC machine wouldn’t be operational for at least a month. This meant we wouldn’t be able to produce our stool … Read more

DESIGN AND FABRICATION

GRASSHOPPER SCRIPT: SINGLE STRIP SINGLE STRIP SUPPORT OVERVIEW RIBS BREAKDOWN CNC PROCESS VERTICAL MEMBERS AND ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS VERTICAL MEMBERS AND ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS: BREAKDOWN PROCESSING WOOD FABRICATION

Computational Design Seminar

Dynamic Partition Wall Inspiration Design Process – Iterations In terms of design, we aimed to design curvature, not just along the vertical faces of the panels, but along the horizontal planes as well to add more dimension to the structure. Our goal was to create curvature in both dimensions for a more dynamic structure, which … Read more

Sustainable Forest Management

Objective Sustainably harvesting trees through single-tree selection system. The harvested trees are then dried, cleaned, and processed for various designs throughout the course of MAEBB at Valldaura Labs. Single-Tree Selection System: The single-tree selection system is a sustainable forestry management practice where individual trees are selectively harvested from a forest, rather than removing all trees in … Read more

Nature as Product

Wark reflects on how modern nature tourism often prioritizes “second nature”—human-made environments—over authentic nature. On her family trip to Mount Zion, the park’s vast canyons and rock formations inspire awe, but this grandeur is soon filtered through rituals like taking selfies. Wacker’s RV transforms the wild into a comfortable, controlled space, making nature feel familiar. … Read more

Close Reading: a space tragedy

An Analysis / Interpretation on Katherine Hayles, ‘How We Read’, ADE Bulletin 150 (2010), pp. 62-79 Close Reading in our brave new world seems to be, indeed, an act of bravery—rarely practiced and disfavored by contemporary multimedia. Technology has stripped reading of its old contemplative value, scattering it across illuminated fields of tabs and battering … Read more

Bridging comfort, affecting the environment

McKenzie Wark, during the chapter “Adventures in Third Nature” of the book “New Geographies #9” uses her own family vacation as a sociological observation study to address the distantiation between humanity and nature. Everything built that shapes the natural environment and promotes comfort for mankind is part of the so-called “second nature”, like the own … Read more

One Planet, One Problem: Rethinking Urban as Global

“The end of the “wilderness.” In every region of the globe, erstwhile “wilderness” spaces are being transformed and degraded through the cumulative socio-ecological consequences of unfettered worldwide urbanization.” – Neil Brenner & Christian Schmid’s Planetary Urbanization from Implosions and Explosions (2013), p.65 source: Pinterestedited by author Earth, An Urban Organism Planetary urbanization challenges the idea … Read more

Evolving Urban Landscapes

Micro-Essay by Isabel Flores “a new conceptual lexicon must be created for identifying the wide variety of urbanization processes that are currently reshaping the urban world and, relatedly, for deciphering the new emergent landscapes of socio-spatial difference that have been crystallizing in recent decades.” (Neil Brenner & Christian Schmid, p. 02) Planetary Urbanization” (2013) explores … Read more

Ecological Intelligence 1. Trimester 2024/25

In our seminar with Michael Salka and Mariano Gomez Luque, we explored the meaning of ecology and the multifaceted challenges of sustainability, materiality and humanity’s relationship with the planet. Over eight weeks, we delved into two distinct but deeply connected approaches to build with ecological thinking and addressing climate change as well as envisioning a … Read more

Terraforming Space Cowboys

MICRO-ESSAY On Gerry Canavan, If Those Goes On Green Planets: Ecology and Science Fiction’, 2014 & Benjamin Bratton, ‘Planetary Sapience Technology & The Human’, 2021 Both Bratton’s “Planetary Sapience” and Canavan’s “If This Goes On” touch upon the concept of intentional terraforming, albeit in significantly different contexts. Bratton frames it as a necessary outcome of … Read more

Science Fiction in the Present

Micro-Essay by Georgia Hoyer “When we contemplate ruins, Christopher Woodward writes, we contemplate our own future.”(Canavan, p. 11) Benjamin Bratton’s “Planetary Sapience” and Gerry Canavan’s “If This Goes On” intersect in their exploration of humanity’s precarious relationship with the planet, emphasizing the power of imagination and speculative thinking to confront ecological and technological crises. Both … Read more

(Un)limited growth?

MAEBB01 / M02 ECOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE / MICRO-ESSAY On Benjamin Bratton,‘Planetary Sapience’, NOEMA (2021), pp. 1-10. On Gerry Canavan,‘Introduction: If This Goes On’, Green Planets: Ecology and Science Fiction (2014),pp. 1-19. “In stark contrast to the untold riches and total freedom they are imagined to provide, distant space colonies — whether on inhospitable moons or orbiting … Read more

Is Nature just another App?

MAEBB01 / M02 ECOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE / MICRO-ESSAY On McKenzie Wark,‘Adventures in Third Nature’,pp. 179 – 182. The idea of second nature1comes from the layer of physical transformations that humans have built all around our environments: houses, cities, and even RVs. Second nature operates through tangible items and mechanisms that directly affect the physical environment. It … Read more

Revolutionizing Architecture with 3D Sand Printing

Revolutionizing Architecture with 3D Sand PrintingA Case Study Analysis by Reuben Diamond In recent years, the intersection of computational design and 3D printing has pushed the boundaries of what architecture can achieve. The article “Printing Architecture: Castles Made of Sand” by Benjamin Dillenburger and Michael Hansmeyer explores how 3D sand printing—a cutting-edge additive manufacturing technology—can … Read more

Redefining the Urban

MICRO-ESSAY BY REUBEN DIAMOND “ A new conceptual lexicon must be created for identifying the wide variety of urbanisation processes that are currently reshaping the urban world” (“Planetary Urbanization,” Brenner, N., & Schmid, C., p. 13) BOUNDARIES DISSOLVED As planetary urbanization reconfigures social, economic, and spatial relations, the traditional frameworks of urban studies encounter profound … Read more

La Obertura – Water Management

The primary objective of the water management strategy employed in this project is to reduce the water usage of both the building occupants (including residents and industrial users) to a minimum level. One straightforward method for reducing water consumption involves implementing the following measures. By setting a baseline for the overall water consumption in residential … Read more