Earthen curtains

Inspirations The Earthen Curtains project is rooted in a deep reflection on vernacular architecture and passive sustainability. The primary formal and conceptual inspiration is derived from the work of Hassan Fathy and the tradition of the Nubian Vaults. This architectural heritage, celebrated for the use of local materials (raw earth) and intrinsic climatic strategies, is … Read more

Revitalizing the Tsukiji Fish Market: An Environmental Analysis of Tokyo

Introduction Group Async A, comprised of Charles Abi Chahine, Emilie El Chidiac, María Sánchez, and Lakzhmy Zaro, conducted an environmental analysis of a redevelopment project in Tokyo, Japan. We focused on a 19-hectare plot that was historically the site of the Tsukiji fish market. The Challenge of Dressing for TokyoAnyone who has visited Tokyo’s famous … Read more

Bouncy Bamboo Pavilion Facade

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

Flap-alona – butterflies, pollinators and Barcelona’s gardens

Pollinators, bees, butterflies, moths, bumblebees, quietly keep our ecosystems alive. They enable flowering plants to reproduce, sustain wild biodiversity, and support much of our food supply. Yet many of these species are in decline worldwide, threatened by habitat loss, chemical use, urban sprawl and climate change. In cities like Barcelona, where green spaces, gardens, parks … Read more

CoolStreets Lab

PROBLEM SOLUTION CoolStreets Lab provides scalable, practical micro-scale heat-risk maps that help cities identify where to cool, shade, and protect their most vulnerable areas. COMPETITION BUSINESS MODEL Target Customers Business Model Early Validation Expert Interviews Key Insight Municipality Feedback Unit Economics TEAM FUNDING NEED WHAT THIS COVERS WHY THIS AMOUNT This is the minimum budget … Read more

Connexió (Connection)

Santa Coloma de Gramenet, located to the north of Barcelona, is bordered by the Besòs River on the west and the Marina Mountain Range on the north. The city’s terrain features an irregular relief that rises to 303 meters at Mount Castellar, its highest point, a topographical character also visible within Parc dels Pins. The … Read more

LumiMaze

The goal of this project is to design a smart light maze that reacts to the movement or presence of people. In this system, the paths and walls of the maze are made of colorful LED strips (such as NeoPixel), which light up dynamically and interactively as participants move through the maze. When a person … Read more

AutoAdapt

All seats in public areas are typically uniform in height; however, individuals differ in stature. When a seat is elevated, a child may find it challenging to access, whereas a low seat could cause discomfort for a taller individual. The optimal proportion is that the chair’s seat height should be approximately 25% of your total … Read more

Wildlife Integrating Landscape Design Artificial Intelligence – WILD.AI — Term_III

CONTEXT DYNAMICS METHODOLOGY ANALYSIS By subtracting different scenarios from one another: The differences start to become clear as to what areas are consisently lost vs what areas are inconsistently lost. The latter being the one where planners and ecologists should focus their efforts the most if aiming to potentialize action. The figure becomes even clearer … Read more

[Un]becoming Local

Abstract: Framing the Question This research begins with a simple but unresolved question: how can modular housing design become local. In the twenty-first century, architects face a housing crisis shaped by financialisation, scarcity, and displacement. Modularity is often presented as a global solution that promises efficiency and scalability. Yet when implemented, these systems rarely connect … Read more

Andromeda

Andromeda

Andromeda is a Rhino-native copilot that turns briefs, context, and massing into a single, interpretable graph so designers can enrich masterplans, evaluate KPIs, and bake results back to Rhino, without leaving their workflow. Built for early-stage masterplanning, it aims to raise social value, connectivity, accessibility, and overall urban quality by unifying data, guiding program allocation, … Read more

Urban Climate on Graphs: From Form to Comfort

ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the relationship between urban development patterns and outdoor thermal comfort, with a focus on Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT), a key factor in calculating the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI).  While graph-based approaches have long been used in spatial analysis (e.g., space syntax, circulation networks), this research extends the application of graph … Read more

Diálogos Urbanos (04)

Prácticas afectivas en la interfaz público-privada de Ciutat Vella – València 1_ PRELUDIO Diálogos Urbanos surge en la intersección entre un proyecto de investigación, un registro coreo-carto-biográfico, una interfaz de reflexión sobre la ciudad que habito, y algunos puntos de fuga hacia imaginarios futuros desde una práctica de diseño que recupere la dimensión afectiva y … Read more