The winning proposal of the 2023–2024 MCH+TC grant is almost here!
Wooden Life, led by architects Justo Díaz and Guillermo Pozo (PADD Estudio), the winning proposal of the 2023–2024 MCH competition in collaboration with the publishing house TC Cuadernos, is already in the printing stage.
Featuring 20 Spanish case studies on new timber construction techniques, analysis of international wood flows, and interviews with prominent experts, Wooden Life promises to become a benchmark for the design and construction of collective housing in wood.
“In a global context that demands sustainable and efficient responses, wood—a traditional material—has been reinvented through industrialization and the responsible management of forest crops, establishing itself as a sustainable alternative for both the present and the future. Collective housing thus becomes a true laboratory for experimentation, where new ways of building and inhabiting the world converge.”
José María de Lapuerta / MCH Director
As the first volume in this new collection from the MCH in collaboration with TC Cuadernos, the book is expected to be launched in early September. As for the next edition of the competition, applications for the 2025–2026 grant are now closed. The jury will announce its decision soon.
About the authors
Justo Díaz holds a B.A. and M.A. in Architecture from ETSAM (Madrid, 2019), and is currently completing the MIPPA Master’s program (ETSAM, 2025). During his academic training, he was awarded scholarships for international exchange programs at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (2015) and Tongji University in Shanghai (2016).
He has worked professionally at renowned architecture offices such as selgascano and NuñezRibot Arquitectos, and as a researcher at Penn State University and MCH/ETH, contributing to research focused on new ways of inhabiting space and design strategies for architectural flexibility.
Guillermo Pozo Arribas (Tres Cantos, 1993) is an architect graduated from the Technical School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM, UPM) in 2019, with an academic exchange program at Seoul National University (2015-2016), South Korea. He is currently completing the MIPPA 2025 program (Master’s in Industrialization, Prototyping, and Architectural Design) at the Department of Architectural Projects at ETSAM, UPM, which provides access to PhD studies.
Since graduating in 2019, he has worked as an architect at Nomos Arquitectos and MármolBravo Arquitectos, contributing to a range of housing projects in Spain and Switzerland. He has also worked as a researcher at MCH/ETH, where he helped develop HOUSETAG, a publication focused on classifying the various paradigms adopted by European housing in the early 21st century.
In 2024, they co-founded padd estudio. Their work explores contemporary ways of living, concieving architecture as a means of engaging with the landscape and territory, with particular attention to cultural and material contexts and the responsible management of natural resources.
Their projects have received several national and international awards, including 1st Prize in Europan 17 Nalón, Spain, 1st Prize in Europan 17 Vaasa, Finland, 3rd Prize in the TAC! 2024 Pavilion competition, and 3rd Prize for the Social Center in Muimenta, Ourense. In 2024, they were awarded the inaugural MCH/TC research scholarship for their project «Wooden Life», which explores the use of timber in collective housing in Spain.
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Author: Camilo Meneses. MCH Manager
