Final Master Work

1. Karol
Díaz
MCH
2022

4. 4
Karol Díaz
kdiaz.ec@gmail.com

5. 5
Karol
Díaz
MCH
2022

6. 6

7. 7
Preface
Levels of intimacy in architecture. Where is
the limit?
Making do and getting by with 1.903 rooms
The landscape within the shell
Is architecture changing as fast as the
society is?
Corrala futura - The garden wall
Integration of Working+living
What about climate change??
From Paris to Krakow
Niche, collecting, accomodating guests
As architects, what should we provide for
the inhabitants?
Learning from Chácara Florida
How does the city of the future looks like?
Growing within the city
People and processes
contents

8. 8
Architecture Master’s of Advanced Studies UPM/ETH in Collective Housing
www.mchmaster.com

9. 9
It seems like yesterday when we started the first
classes of the master.
It was the last days of winter in Madrid and like the
weather, we were distant and cold as we began to
get to know each other. 27 architects, coming from
13 different countries, with very different cultures
and traditions, but with the interest in architecture
and housing as a common theme.
Throughout each group work we got to know
each other better and better. Before the summer
vacations, we traveled to Switzerland in search of
inspiration and references, it was a moment to take
a break from the intense rhythm of the classes and
workshops of the master. Then came the summer
vacations, a space to look back on the learning
and experiences of the first part of the master.
Personally I felt recharged and familiarized with
the routine, to continue with the remaining months,
however they passed much faster than the initial
ones, and almost without realizing it we had already
reached the end of the master.
Without a doubt it has been an enriching,
challenging and rewarding experience, because it
allowed me to share with incredible people, learn
from them, reconnect with known concepts and
explore new ones that motivate me to continue
exploring housing, habitat, the domestic and design
projects that contribute to expand the current
limits.
I applied to the master’s degree in collective
housing because I wanted to investigate the
solutions that are being given to the current
challenges of housing, environmentally, socio-
politically and economically.
Living in
the 21st
century
preface

10. 10
Understanding living in the 21st century means being aware of
climate change, exploring a new boundary between the collective
and the private, finding mechanisms to guarantee access to
housing, proposing new management models, building on existing
infrastructure, designing to dismantle, creating spaces in exchange
for specific uses, always considering the particular context of each
project as well as the ways of living of its users, among many other
issues.
As architects, we must consider that the quality of social relations
is directly proportional to the quality of housing, which implies a
responsibility and commitment when designing: flexible, adaptable
spaces that allow their inhabitants to have freedom, to find the
extraordinary in the ordinary; passive buildings that are energy
efficient, whose materiality provides comfort to all the senses;
collective spaces that allow the creation of community life. These are
reminders not to be forgotten in practice.
This book brings together some of the projects worked on in the
workshops and specialties during the master’s degree in collective
housing 2022, grouped from a series of questions that were raised
throughout the course and that will remain valid whenever we talk
about housing.

11. 11
MCH 2022

12. 12
Levels of
intimacy in
architecture.
Where is the
limit?
These two projects have in
common the attitude of reuse-
recycle-add.
Through each proposal, there
are two different approaches:
one, to empty the building and
leave only the shell, proposing a
completely flexible use of space
and a nomadic life, which does
not require a clearly defined
space to inhabit and where
domesticity is mixed with work,
and the other, to fill the shell with
many rooms without a specific
use, where each inhabitant
determines its use.
In both cases, the question of
intimacy and commonality arises:
which uses require more privacy
than others?, which can be
common instead of private?

13. 13
The obsolete industrial facilities
represent a potential reuse by
turning it into new dwelling and
working spaces.
The proposal addresses ten
qualities of inhabiting (Generosity,
Freespace and extra-space,
Capacity of appropriation, Open
structure, Transparency, Inside-
outside continuity, Movement,
Private outdoor space, pleasure,
imagination and space of
transition)
through the infill of the shell with
1.903 rooms which allow
different uses and arrangements
that create a neighborhood.
Making do and getting by with 1.903 rooms
Housing and reuse: a solution for good qualities of life
Workshop 2 Anne Lacaton
Assistant professor: Diego Garcia-Setién
Localización:SBB Workshops, Zurich
In collaboration with: Nayanatara Tampi, Jorge Sanchez, Alexander Derungs

14. 14
TEN QUALITIES OF INHABITING
Generosity
Taking the
maximum
advantage of
the space
Big openings
Different spaces for
the same activity
Possibility for
movement
Free-space and
extra-space
Storage module
Terrace, balcony,
patio
Space without an
specific use which
allows freedom
and creativity
No hierarchy in
spaces
Deep inner space
Furniture measures
Creation of different
situations according
to different ways of
inhabiting
Transparency
Relation with the
environment,
daylight,
neighborhood
Curtain
Traslucent material
Capacity of
appropriation
Long view
continuity
Extend the space
to the outdoor
Inside outside
continuity
Big openings
Sliding doors
Continuous
ground floor

15. 15
Movement
Seamless
material
Open floor plan
No hallway
Fluidity between
spaces, between
indoor and
outdoor
Open structure
Possibility to
provide variety of
uses and
functions
Core structure
Envelope structure
Removable
partitions
Terrace
Balcony
Patio
Wintergarden
Allow a direct
relation with the
exterior being at
one’s own
Private outdoor
space
Porch
Common hallway
From private space to
commonal and public
space, enabling the
relationship with
others
Skylight
Double height
Different spaces for
the same activity
Pleasure and
imagination
Spaces which
allow freedom
and happiness
Space of
transition

16. 16
PLACE
SBB’s workshop sheds
“Within and next to the site, there are several housing blocks,
totaling 447 dwellings. In the next future, SBB plans to demolish
and build new dwellings and working spaces for small companies,
and they have conducted consultation with neighbors trying
to find out the best fit for the plot. Unlike the recent and similar
project of Europaalle (2004-2020), here there should be an
opportunity to avoid demolition and to find alternative strategies to
provide good living conditions on the site.”
Taken from the syllabus

17. 17
CONCEPT
Taking advantage of the existing
The train station as the continent, the rooms as the content
The sheds will be filled with many rooms of diferent sizes,
taking advantage of the roof and creating diverse spaces
inside.
continent - content continent + content

18. CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT
Different sizes, different uses, different configuration
Rails grid Services modules
Ground floor living units Void - Green areas
18

19. Streets
Horizontal units Vertical units
Neighborhood
19

20. Groundfloor plan
20

21. 21

22. General section
22

23. 23

24. Roof plan
24

25. Max Vogt’s Highrise building + New Housing building
Depot G - Office Building
25

26. 26

27. 27

28. 28

29. 29
Each inhabitant uses the rooms in a different way, sharing
some spaces with his/her neighbors and changing these
uses as many times as they need to.

30. 30
How the ten qualities of
inhabiting could look like.
One at a time or all of them
together.

31. 31

32. 32
“The gender and technological
revolutions of the last century
have meant that several
decades later, the limits between
reproductive and productive work
do not correspond to private and
public spheres, but coexist within
assemblages of hybrid spaces
where the temporal condition
seems to impose itself on the
pure spatial condition.
We propose, as a project and
research exercise, to re-think one
of the ETSAM Pavilions on its four
floors as a container for effective
use of work and domesticity.”
The Landscape Within The Shell
Workshop 1 Amann, Canovas, Maruri
Reload with work
Location: ETSAM, Madrid
In collaboration with: Andres Solano, Paloma Allende, Sebastian Worm
Taken from the syllabus

33. 33
TO INHABIT IN THE 21ST CENTURY
A nomad, in constant change
Taking as a point of reference the nomad girl, from Toyo Ito,,
the project explores the life inside the university as a nomad,
moving through the space and carrying around the personal
items and objects to the place that each student needs.

34. 34
PLACE
ETSAM north wing
“Housing assumes more and more old buildings that were not initially
intended to house bodies; From obsolete factories and office buildings
to obsolete warehouses and industrial structures, we have a vast built
heritage that we cannot possibly lose.
On the other hand, housing has mutated not only responding to the
usual family condition but also from its organization and in relation to
its situation in consolidated cities.
Also, the Universities must adapt their structures and incorporate
different uses if they do not want to face the vulgarity that they seem to
tend to.“
Taken from the syllabus

35. Take pumbling and
services out
Create a ruin Reconnect with the
natural landscape
Create artificial floating
landscapes
35
CONCEPT

36. The project promotes flexible activities that
can change through time
36

37. 37

38. 38

39. 39
An open ground floor that allows the connectivity through both sides of
the wing, welcoming students and their families.

40. First level floor plan Second level floor plan Upper levels floor plan
40

41. Challenging the intimacy
and choosing to share
everything.
Do we need to sleep in a
bed and work in a table?
Do we need the bar to join
for a dinner?
41

42. 42

43. 43

44. 44
Is architecture
changing as fast
as the society is?
“The history of the city is also the
history of collective housing.”
The next projects adress the
flexibility inside the typologies.
In both cases, the dwellings
for artists aim to explore the
minimum and maximum of
working and living within the
space.
Located in Lavapiés Madrid,
and in El Poblenou, Barcelona,
neighborhoods that have
adapted and mutated through
time, always reflecting the
current ways of living but also
being a focus of gentrification
and social challenges.

45. 45
The corrala as a shared social
space of the inhabitants, the
park as a meeting place of the
neighborhood and the art galleries
demonstrating the activity of the
area.
The Corrala represents the
intimacy of the building.
The response to the neighboring
facades is a thick and
bearing brick layer, packed with
all the buildings services and
functionalities. Whatever sprouts
inwards then is left light. A filigree
of wooden beams and columns
create the contemporary corrala.
The garden wall
Workshop 6 Alison Brooks
Corrala Futura
Assistant professor: Alejandro de Miguel
Location: Esto es una plaza, Lavapiés, Madrid
In collaboration with: Alexia Valtadou, Andrew Georges, Cristhian Haro

46. UNDERSTANDING LAVAPIES
“Lavapies is one of the densest areas of Madrid, as part of the
city centre, where overcrowding and poor living conditions
are still prevalent. Students will need to take position on how
to best approach the relation of their scheme with the area.
This site has the potential to be an exemplar case of a true
regeneration of the few remaining empty lots in the centre
of Madrid, one that incorporates the needs of the new users
while giving back to the community. It is also conceivable that
it becomes yet another case of money-driven, at best, dull
development, if no conscious action is taken against it.”
Taken from the syllabus
46

47. ESTO ES UNA PLAZA
“Since 2009, when it was handed over to the charity Esta es
una Plaza, the derelict space in C/Doctor Fourquet, 24 has
been collectively revamped for neighbours to enjoy. Today, the
control of site has been retrieved by the Municipality and is up
for development. The Council has given full responsibility of
the redevelopment to MCHstudents. The municipality wants
to engage with the cultural centre La Casa Encendida, the
original promoters of the restoration of the space, to provide
artist living and studio spaces in a site at the intersection
of a number of art centres, ranging from consolidated art
institutions such as the Reina Sofia Museum to edgier self-
managed art and social centres such as Tabacalera. “
Taken from the syllabus
47

48. 48
PLACE
In between corralas, Esto es una plaza remains as a place
where the community meet and interact.

49. 49
CONCEPT
Reinterpreting the corrala

50. HOUSING AS A CIVIC BUILDING
Mixed uses, collective spaces
Regarding the program, the project includes a building only
for galleries and ateliers, connected to the housing buildings
through a bridge which separates the plot creating two corrala
patios for the community, keeping as much as possible from
Esto es una Plaza.
Architecture program
Díaz, Georges, Haro, Valtadou
La Corrala Futura
Dwellings
Commonal spaces
Art galleries
Circulation
Corridors
50

51. Groundfloor plan
Section B
51

52. Typical floor plan
Section A
52

53. Isometric view - Frontal facade
53

54. 54

55. 55

56. Atelier A. 49 sqm
Studio
Home
56

57. Studio
Home
Atelier B. 73.5 sqm
57

58. Atelier C 36 sqm
Studio
Home
58

59. 59

60. 60
Bringing together living and working under one
architectural roof
Living + Working structures
Workshop 4 Andrea Deplazes
Dialectic mottos about living and working
Location: El Poblenou, Barcleona
In collaboration with: Felipe Santamaría, Teresita Campino

61. 61
THE URBAN VILLAGE
“Quarter where people live and work”
There have been many projects exploring the concept of
working and living together such as Le Familistere in Guise,
or the Immeubles-Vila from Le Corbusier, creating a quarter
where people can find all the uses in a closed ratio. The
hortus conclusus or the Comlongon Castle are examples of
mixing living and working.
The garden of Eden, Upper Rhenish Master
L’Esprit Nouveau, Le Corbusier
Comlongon Castle

62. 62
PLACE
El Poblenou
In constant change, going from old factories and a working
class neighborhood, El Poblenou contents new uses and
activities to new generations in the city, reusing the existing
infrastructure.
The aim is to develop a cluster in one of the blocks from “El
ensanche”, where an urban villa fits.

63. Minimized Living Maximized working
63
CONCEPT
Integration Living into Working

64. Unit - Groundfloor plan and section
64

65. Unit - First floor plan and section
65

66. Grouping of the units into the urban village
66

67. 67

68. Groundfloor plan - Urban village
68

69. Sections
69

70. 70

71. 71

72. 72

73. 73

74. 74
What about
climate change?
“How much does your building
weights?”
Buckminster Fuller
Design for dissasemble
Considering the current crisis
regarding climate change, the
construction industry is one of
the most CO2 emitting industries.
The following projects explore
decreasing the carbon footprint
of the building by industrializing
all its elements and creating
the proper conditions to have a
microclimate to collect plants.

75. 75
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The exercise aims to understand an existing social housing project
and take it into another location, where it answers to specific weather,
users and constraints, keeping the project’s original DNA but adapting
it to the new conditions.
From Paris to Krakow
Specialty: Construction and technology
Ignacio Fernández Solla + Archie Campbell + David Castro + Diego García-Setién
In collaboration with: Carolina Basilis, Andrew Georges, Nancy Mandhan, Borja Martinez

76. 76
Montmartre glass - Kempe Thill project

77. 77
Who are we
designing for?
The UNHCR estimates 800,000
of the 1.1 million Ukrainians
that have returned home since
the war started are reentering
through Poland.
Our project is designed for
refugee families fleeing war.
Their expectations are to achieve
a lowmaintenance cost with
heating and materials with high
insulation, as well as to achieve
a noise-free space with a
comfortable interior.
The building must be easy to
disassemble, replicable and
industrialized

78. 78
PLACE
From Paris to Krakow
Current emergency in Ukraine left millions of ukranians
seeking for refugee in the neighbouring countries. Poland,
as one of the closest neighbors receives most of the people.
Because of its location, near to Austria where the largest
production of CLT panels is, Krakow fits as a city with the
infrastructure to provide the refugees with good life conditions
but also to build quickly the project.
Location in Paris Location in Krakow

79. 79
CONCEPT
Quick to build, low cost, flexible for future change.
Basement, commonal spaces
and dwellings
No basement
Layout of apartments Open floor plan
Open space in between Closed commonal garden
DNA of the project Strategies

80. Ground floor plan
80

81. Refugee stage - Typical floor plan
Refugee stage - Typologies
81

82. Apartment for sale - Typical floor plan
Apartment for sale stage - Typologies
82

83. Flexibility through each stage
83

84. Structure and industrialization
84

85. Knolling - Prefabricated Concrete Elements
Foundation and Groundfloor
85

86. 86
Knolling - Prefabricated timber elements.
Typical floor

87. 87
Knolling - Prefabricated steel and glass
elements. Typical floor.

88. 88

89. 89
K n o l l i n g

90. 90
Timber cassette slab

91. 91
Envelope detail

92. 92
Roof detail

93. 93
Facilities

94. Niche +
collecting +
accomodating
guests
Taking the niche, an architectural
element, as point of departure,
the spaces of the apartments are
arranged around it. The niche is
used to collect the plants and
flowers, that will be taken care
by inhabitants. The rainwater is
collected to irrigate the plants.

95. 95
Domestic fragments
Workshop 3 Elli Mosayebi
Assistant professor: Alvaro Fidalgo
In collaboration with: Androniki Pedrou, Isabella Pineda

96. 96

97. 97

98. 98
As architects,
what should we
provide for the
inhabitants?
Learning from Chacara Florida
is an exercise to think about
identity, gradual increase
and self-buiild in popular
neighborhoods in Sao Paulo.
It brings the question about
Identity and appropiation of the
dwellings made by its inhabitants.
How much space do we left as
architects to let than happen?

99. 99
The aim is to improve the quality
of housing in Chacara Florida,
taking into account its relationship
with the territory and weather.
Through the analysis of the
existing conditions of dwellings
such as climate responses
in facades or constructive
process and materials, the
proposal focuses in providing an
infrastructure at different scales
to respond to the needs of each
household or neighborhood,
allowing the progressive growth
and the self-build houses and
commonal spaces.
Learning from Chácara Florida
Specialty: Low cost & emergency housing
Cristiane Muniz
Location: Sao Paulo, Brasil
In collaboration with: Anastasia Lizardou, Cristhian Haro,
Jorge Sanchez, Juanita Gómez

100. Climate Response
100
LEARNING FROM CHÁCARA FLORIDA
Shaded outdoor buffer zones and
as a rain protection
Low pitched roofs with overhangs
Openings and louvers for crossed
ventilation
Use of trees to minimize heat gain
Climate Response

101. 101
Facade Analysis
Constructive process

102. 102
PLACE
Chacara Florida
A rural favela within the city of Sao Paulo, surrounded by
nature and water.

103. 103
CONCEPT
Infrastructure
What about providing the infrastructure, and let inhabitants
build their houses according to their necessities and budget?

104. INFRASTRUCTURE FOR DIFFERENT SCALES,
FOR DIFFFERENT NEEDS
S - Plug-in
M - Another roof or infrastructure
for a single house
104

105. L - A roof to self-build through time
Public spaces
XL - Infrastructure for a neighborhood
self-built through time
105

106. Section A-A’
Section B-B’
106

107. 107

108. Section C-C’
108

109. 109

110. 110

111. 111

112. 112

113. 113

114. 114
How does the
city of the
future looks
like? ?
Through three key drivers, the
proposal aims to think about the
city of the future in an area in the
south of Madrid, a regeneration
using the existing infrastructure
and creating a new centrality for
all.

115. 115
Growing in the city
Specialty: Urban design and city sciences
Jose Maria Ezquiaga, Gema Peribáñez, Susana Isabel, Julia Landaburu
Location: Campamento, Madrid
In collaboration with: Gaurav Chordia, Nayanatara Tampi, Suzane Keitch
Through many layers of uses, activities and networks, the proposal
focuses on the greenery and the mixing of uses, key aspects to keep
the diversity and sustainability of the city.

116. Urban farming in cities
Campamento as a centrality in the southern
area of Madrid
Urban farming in Madrid
116
KEY DRIVERS
New south and urban farming
A new centrality to the southern districts of Madrid is needed,
where many services and cultural activities can be found.
Urban farming as a way to create community and contribute to
decrease food waste within the cities.
In defense of Urban
Oasis
• Differentlocal governments are dedicated to the systematic
destructionof oases,with Madrid at the head.
• The dismantling of the Lavapiés neighborhood gardena few days
ago adds to the felling of the Barajas neighborhood forest,the
eviction of neighborhood spaces or the contemptformutual aid
networks during the pandemic.
• More than fear of people'screativity and prominence,what
underlies this arrogant and destructive form of government is the
impositionof sadness and the will to feed our powerlessness.
Latina
Carabanchel
Villaverde
Usera
Villa de Vallecas
Puente de
Vallecas
Vicálvaro
San Blas
Canillejas
Campamento
SOUTH/WEST PLAN
“The council presents SOUTHWEST, a
plan that will allocates 49 millon to
develop tthe south and west of
Madrid in 2020”

117. 117
KEY DRIVERS
Urban childhood
The city of the future is where children can grow, with shared
spaces create communities,designed for all ages.

118. 118
PLACE
Campamento, Madrid
An opportunity to create a new centrality in the southern part
of Madrid.

119. Highway as a physical and social barrier Reuse of existing buildings
Lack of conectivity and pedestrian network Retaining the highway, connecting the sides
Generating a strong connection point Connecting with the green area
119
CONCEPT - STRATEGIES

120. Urban farming as a main axis of the project
250 m ratios - The distance to find different facilities within the neighborhood
120

121. Different types of urban farming spreading through the neighborhoods
Public transport network
121

122. The greenery and the morphology
Mixed uses
122

123. Neighborhood scale
Main pedestrian streets
123

124. Public transport network
Morphology
124

125. Neighborhood scale - Mixed uses
Facilities for all ages within the neighborhood
125

126. 8
9
10
4
2
5
7
13
14
12
1
16
11
6
15
3
2 Urban Play Yard
3 Community Center and Library
4 Primary School as Community Heart
5 Nature Play and mud garden
6 Police and Fire Station
7 Communal Toy Box
8 Summer showers
9 Intergenerational Makers Space
10 Market place with rooftop court
11 Intergenerational Play
12 Playful courtyards
13 Performance Area in Park
14 Outdoor seating for Cafeteria
15 Shops and Cafeteria
16 Water recycling fountain
1 Rainwater percolation and
grey water recycling point
126

127. Playability Active Mobility
Risk taking opportunities Tactile
127

128. Solar power generation
Policy decision to use minimum 30% of
roof surface for power generation
Composting
Using the compostable farm wastes for
composting at roof level to be used
water recycling at block level
Inclusion of recycling bodies in the city
landscape t o create awarereness
Urban Farming
Policy: minimum 30% of roof surface and
courtyards for guided farming practices
128

129. 129

130. 130
Process

131. 131

132. 132
People

133. 133

137. Karol
Díaz
MCH
2022