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.
The boutique CLT Factory in Solsona consists of a large 40.000sqm factory volume and a tarraced roof that accommodates offices, amenities, green spaces and the covered living area. Within the context of Catalonia that has been grappling with severe drought conditions over the past few years, leading to significant water scarcity issues, a special focus … Read more
BIOBASE(D) is a forest management and research center in the Pyrenees, dedicated to preventing forest fires through sustainable forestry and education. The building’s design—especially its structure—responds to the local climate, highlights the potential of timber as a construction material, and offers visitors and staff a unique experience in this remarkable forest basecamp. CONCEPT Location The building … Read more
Project Located in Solsona, Spain, near the Centre de Ciència i Tecnologia Forestal de Catalunya. Situated at an elevation of 700 meters above sea level, the site experiences a continental hinterland climate, characterized by cold winters, hot summers, and significant temperature variations between day and night. Rainfall is moderate, with drier summers and wetter autumns. … Read more
Location SOLSONA, SPAIN Elevation: 700 m above sea levelClimate: Continental / highlands Manifesto From the Pyrenees to Barcelona, the journey wood takes can become a means to bridge the knowledge gap between forests and the timber industry. Solsona, located in the middle of this journey, housing our timber saw mill, can become a place of … Read more
N.E.S.T.: A Network for Ecological and Sustainable Timber Research We were tasked with designing a Timber Research Center (+Residential units for researchers and visiting academics, designed for comfort and collaboration +shared amenities to foster a sense of community) A research and innovation facility dedicated to developing advanced timber products and technologies, with high-tech laboratories, testing … Read more
Our CLT Factory embodies a boutique ethos: modest in scale yet purposeful in intent. Serving as a research and innovation hub for new CLT products, it represents a vision for sustainable work-life integration and thoughtful wood construction, with a commitment to sustainable design practices. In contrast to sprawling industrial complexes, this boutique factory seamlessly integrates … Read more
As the fourth segment in a chain of production of CLT and Timber materials, our goal was to design a building responsible for the pre-fabrication and assembling of those materials. Location Map Concept Manifesto This project is an auto-replicating, self-sufficient, and carbon sequestering building; a prototype for the buildings of the future. It embodies a … Read more
Our project, titled ‘Tree Line’ is a timber saw mill, combining community with industry in the city of Solsona, Spain. The aim of this project is to bridge the gap of knowledge in the public about the milling industry, and bring people closer to the wood that is so often used. It sits within the … Read more
Objective – Initially understand local climatic patterns and develop climatically-adapted design strategies.-First design step: develop interior spatial and material strategies adapted to body demands.-Second design step: learn how program can be used from a thermodynamic perspective to generate heat sources and sinks.-Thirdly, develop external massing morphological and material strategies to interact with local sun wind … Read more
The Site We worked with the Kindergarten at Colegi Mare de Déu dels Angels in La Sagrera neighborhood Barcelona. This historic school has educated generations of students over nearly the past one hundred years, this year the school decided to bring in IAAC to develop playground structures to improve the exposed brick terraces where the … Read more
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
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
“If you suffer from the misconception that most of the world is still too poor to buy anything at all, you risk missing out on the biggest economic opportunity in world history … Strategic business planners need a fact-based worldview to find their future customers” – Hans Rosling, in another instance at a business lecture. … Read more
In the article ‘Coral Reefs of the Land’ Madhusudan Katti suggests we reimagine our cities as coral reefs. Coral reefs correlate with tropical rainforests concerning their biological productivity. These dynamic marine metropolises accommodate diverse species. Conversely, our cities offer limited spaces for species to build habitats. Could cities embrace coexistence and invite more species to … Read more
This blog describes and showcases the second-term research and prototyping for Bionook. Research Topic: Investigating the Synergistic Potential Between Additive Manufacturing Methods and Engineered Timber in Reshaping Urban Design Paradigms. This research delves into precisely integrating sawdust and orange peels as industrial by-product additives for Soil Additive Manufacturing and locally sourced Engineered Timber, synergizing them … Read more
// naal : [sanskrit] Umbilical Cord: a connecting element between humans and surroundings and going back to the roots in order to learn from the traditional architecture and adapting the architectural practice back to it. || “Humans : a component of the ecosystem?” || For thousands of years, man seeked shelter under trees or in … Read more
