At the end of the academic year, graduate students become part of the MCH alumni network.
This network, initiated in 2006 includes prominent architects who are part of important international offices.
Each year our students write about their experience in the program in order to make improvements, as well as to guide and motivate future candidates for the program.
The MCH programme has been a unique and deeply inspiring experience, both personally and professionally. It is as demanding and challenging as it is rewarding and enriching. Through its strong practical approach across all specialties and workshops, I can confidently say that this program marked a turning point in my professional path, helping me develop new skills, acquire in-depth knowledge, and strengthen an innovative and critical mindset.
The international student environment gave me the opportunity to approach housing from diverse perspectives, enriching my own vision while strengthening essential skills such as critical thinking, negotiation, and curiosity. Beyond the academic experience, one of the most valuable outcomes has been the meaningful friendships built with peers, within a safe and stimulating academic environment characterized by mutual understanding, support, and generosity.
This programme far exceeded my expectations. It became a space for deep reflection on what I want to pursue next, reinforcing my commitment to an architectural practice shaped by a more human, conscious, and coherent vision.
Choosing the MCH program was one of the right academic decisions I have made. It was a rigorous and rewarding learning journey; the intensity of the one-week workshops consistently pushed us to test our limits and produce meaningful work. Learning alongside an engaged faculty and a diverse group of peers made the experience both challenging and memorable. Studying in Madrid added a strong cultural dimension to the program, allowing learning to extend far beyond the classroom, while the friendships and relationships formed here are equally valuable and will stay with me for a lifetime.
The MCH is a challenging and inspiring program that truly stands out for its multicultural environment and collaborative spirit. Working with students from around the world, learning from leading architects, and engaging deeply with housing at multiple scales made this a transformative experience. It is a master’s that pushes you to grow—not only as a designer, but also as a thinker and collaborator.
The MCH was a truly distinctive experience, shaped by a demanding and continuous pace of work that challenged me throughout the entire program. While the workload was intense, it was precisely this rigor that made the learning process so meaningful, pushing me to rethink my assumptions and gradually develop stronger and more confident architectural tools.
One of the program’s greatest strengths was the quality of its academic staff. Learning from outstanding architects and researchers, each with critical and diverse perspectives on contemporary housing, greatly enriched my education and reinforced my interest in a reflective, rigorous, and socially engaged architectural practice.
At the same time, learning extended far beyond the academic sphere. The daily exchange with classmates became a powerful source of growth. Working alongside peers from all over the world, each bringing different backgrounds, cultures, and ways of thinking, turned the experience into an invaluable collective process. Every conversation, critique, and collaborative effort became an opportunity to learn from others, broaden my perspective, and understand architecture as an inherently collaborative practice.
Overall, the MCH represented a period of intense personal and professional growth, where sustained effort translated into new skills, greater confidence, and a broader, more human understanding of architecture and collective housing.
My pass through the MCH was a very transforming experience on a professional and personal level. The master’s program is designed in such a way that you get to interact with multiple amazing world recognized architects in a very close way, a very unique opportunity. You get exposed to many different cultures and ways to do architecture which I personally found mind blowing and extremely interesting. It’s a very nourishing experience for any professional and not only because of the professors but also because of your colleagues that come from all over the globe, together we got to question, investigate and design different ways of housing. In a world where the housing crisis is one of the biggest concerns, I believe that it is of great importance for us architects to have the tools to face this matter with the importance, professionalism and creativity that it deserves. I believe that this master’s program has provided me with new lenses and tools to be able to practice architecture in a more responsible and interesting way. It’s definitely an experience I will never forget and that I will carry with me forever in my architectural practice.
The Master in Collective Housing was an intense and very meaningful experience. I was looking for a program that was practical, demanding, and closely connected to architectural practice, and the MCH exceeded my expectations. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me realize that I am capable of more than I initially thought, both professionally and personally.
One of the most valuable aspects of the program was the people. Working with classmates from all over the world, each with different backgrounds and ways of thinking, was incredibly inspiring. The workshops, specialties and lectures exposed us to a wide range of voices within the architectural community and constantly challenged the way I think about housing, space, and inhabitation.
The MCH sharpened my skills, broadened my knowledge, and reminded me that architecture is, above all, a collective and human-centered practice.
