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.
A new look on a a Tropical Residential Scheme where 40% 0f the building program is used for Recreational and Commercial Activities. LOCATION & SITE The site chosen is that of Kpeshie Lagoon, in Accra, Ghana. The site over looks the lagoon and is surrounded by trees. The site is close to the sea and … Read more
Basant Abdelrahman, Disha Arora, Pradyumna Vikharankar and Raffaele SchiavelloMASTER IN ADVANCED ECOLOGICAL BUILDINGS AND BIOCITIES 2022-23, IAAC LOCATION The Urban social housing studio aims in finding ecological and social design solutions for urban housing, with a special focus on various climate zone this semester. In our specific case, we found a site in a hot … Read more
Our Sustainable Forest Management course kicked off in December with an open air lecture from Dr. Arbol. This explorative walk through the Valldaura forest helped us to better observe and understand how the ecosystem forest functions. We also learned how to identify the existing tree species and their way of growing in the context of … Read more
After analyzing the site of Font del Gos we quickly realized that soil erosion was a significant problem.The site is a case study of human interception of an ecosystem, a naturally evolvedlandscape and water stream disturbed by human doings, causing dysfunction.Dry, eroded soil is unable to absorb water properly when raining.This causes a lack of … Read more
The Advanced Digital Tools workshop introduced me to the parametric software Grasshopper. This came in handy for the development and planning of many project-related tasks as well as for personal projects and experimentations. In the course, we were given many practical examples and tasks that I tried to continued further and translated into my own … Read more
European Action Plan for the CITY and the EARTHPresented at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, Barcelona, 4 October 2022 The future of the earth, its ecosystems, and our own civilization will be decided in and by our cities. Only if we ensure that the material, means, and methods with which we build and manage … Read more
Convened in Rome, 08 June 2022 A CALL TO ACTION The following blog post contains the 12 principles that the Charter looks at highlighting and emphasizing through the document. The students of the Masters in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities has proceeded to create diagrams for each of the principles to aid in the process … Read more
This semester Bruno introduced us to the advanced tools of the fab lab and the computer programs to operate them. This allowed us to directly implement newly learned fabrication skills into our design processes. I implemented these newly learned skills in designing a Surfboard, producing different joineries for the CODA workshop, fabricating ceramic pieces, and … Read more
IntroductionAs part of the IAAC MAEBB academic course, we have participated in the Furnish Kids 2.0 program. The program aims to improve public space through design interventions of tactical architecture. This year’s edition, hosted in the creative hubs of Barcelona and Milan, and co-funded by the European Union, concentrated on the ever-changing area of Plaça … Read more
During the first session of the Agroecology course, we were introduced to the concept of bi-annual rotation agricultural system and its importance in restoring soil quality. Every Monday was spent actively taking care of the plant beds as part of Valldaura’s Living Labs. We prepared the beds by removing weeds, tilling the compact soil, mixing … Read more
The Furnish Kids program aims to improve public space through design interventions of tactical architecture. The design for this term has been developed to utilize natural materials such as Pine logs unused for previous Valldaura Labs projects and offcuts from wooden plan production. The materials have been cataloged, measured, and scanned for improved digital modeling. … Read more
3D Scan The fountain project for Open Nature was developed through a collaboration of hands-on experimentation and computer modeling. First, to understand the site best, it was advantageous to the group to 3D scan the landscape. This allowed us to work with dimensions and positioning relative to on-site boundaries that the mountains and vegetation created. … Read more
As part of the IAAC´s Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities of 2022-2023, we got involved in the yearly garden that conforms not only of the Valldaura Labs property, but also to our home and therefore provides food to all our us. In order to manage the garden, during these past months we had … Read more
In designing and fabricating the fountain arrangement of the Open Nature project, we explored various prototypes. First, we built a small waterway in the garden space at Valldaura Labs to brainstorm how to capture the water in an elegant way. This helped us understand basic grading methods to let the water drain appropriately. Next, we … Read more
The project ‘[Wood]le’ – a ‘Wooden Noodle’ explores the idea of steam-bending tree logs to create a self-stable structure. The Woodle assumes the function of a seating area as it rests on the ground at one end and folds up to become an element that frames the valley of Font Del Gos on the other. … Read more
The project ‘[Wood]le’ – a ‘Wooden Noodle’ explores the idea of steam-bending tree logs to create a self stable structure. The Woodle assumes the function of a seating area as it rests on the ground at one end and folds up to become an element that frames the valley of Font Del Gos on the … Read more
The project ‘[Wood]le’ – a ‘Wooden Noodle’ explores the idea of steam-bending tree logs to create a self stable structure. The [Wood]le assumes the function of a seating area as it rests on the ground at one end and folds up to become an element that frames the valley of Font Del Gos on the … Read more
Through the classes of this course, we practised and learned how to apply the parametric software Grasshopper as well as associated plug-ins into our computational designs. We implemented what we learned in our studio projects in order to comprehend it in real-time. Since our project did not require any direct fabrication through 3d software, we … Read more
INTRODUCTION The Design and Fabrication course’s main objective is to orient us towards learning and gaining experience in the use of tools and machines in relation to fabrication. Through designing, manufacturing and prototyping the models we were able to gain hands-on experience on how to fabricate and construct our projects. Valldaura Green FabLab provided us … Read more
As IAAC’s Valldaura Labs and Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings & Biocities (MAEBB) class of 2022/23 we have the opportunity to intervene in a natural setting at the edge of the city and act as a bridging element between the city and forest. Thus, the vision is to facilitate rejuvenation and giving the site of … Read more
As part of the Self-Sustainable Living Labs Experience of Valldaura, students of the MAEBB Program take on the task of handling, maintaining and managing the 0.5 hectares of garden every year. The process involves preparing the soil (weeding, manuring and mulching), transplanting saplings & seeds and harvesting when necessary. For the Autumn Winter Rotation this … Read more
As IAAC’s Valldaura Labs and Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings & Biocities (MAEBB) class of 2022/23, we have begun another yearly garden. Within the Agroecology course we started in October with a new autumn-winter rotation. The fresh seeds and saplings were planted and transplanted at the start of October and are still regularly maintained and … Read more
As IAAC’s Valldaura Labs and Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings & Biocities (MAEBB) class of 2022/23, we have been given the challenge of working on the activation of a public space that happens to be a transitory space between the city of Barcelona and the regional park of Collserola, specifically honouring the site of Font … Read more
