Winner of the MCH + TC cuadernos scholarship in 2024-25
The Master in Collective Housing MCH, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid UPM + Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, together with TC Cuadernos, present the results of the 2024/25 call for the publication of a book in collective housing and city:
«American middle grounds» from Martin Hättasch.
Winner of the scholarship for the support, publication and dissemination of a thesis/research on collective housing and city.
Congratulations, out of more than 30 candidates from all over the world, this was the chosen winner by the jury.
The jury was composed of:
– A professor representing the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid UPM. Dr. José María de Lapuerta Montoya – MCH Director.
– A member of the UPM master’s team. Architect Camilo Meneses Ferrada – MCH manager.
– A professor representing the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich ETH. Dr. Elli Mosayebi, MCH Co-Director.
– A representative of the TC Cuadernos publishing house. José Miguel Rubio, TC Cuadernos Director.
– An outstanding professional in the housing area. Dr. Fernando Altozano, MCH Housing Practice Specialty Leader.
– The winners of the last edition of this competition. Architects Justo Díaz and Guillermo Pozo – Padd estudio.
About American Middle Grounds
The central premise of the research is that North American modernism has already produced a body of projects and ideas that have been largely overlooked in current housing debates and warrant renewed attention. Contrary to common assumptions, the legacy of North American modernist housing can neither be confined to the narrative of “failed” public housing nor minimized as strictly a transplantation of European models. Spanning the post–World War II period to the present, the projects showcased here offer denser alternatives to the single-family suburb while addressing distinctly American conditions— such as the growing dominance of the automobile, the rapid industrialization of housing production, the emergence of the urban enclave, the influence of private developers, and the adaptation of residential typologies to the lifestyles and aspirations of the American middle class. Balancing economy, sustainability, and community, this housing range could today provide productive clues as to how these types could become part of a solution to the contemporary housing crisis.
More about Martin Hättasch:
Martin Hättasch is a German architect whose work explores the intersection of architecture and urbanism, with a focus on housing and monumentality. He holds degrees from the Technische Universität Braunschweig and Princeton University, where he was a DAAD fellow.
Registered as an architect in the Netherlands, Hättasch has practiced in Europe and the U.S., and contributed to urban planning initiatives such as the redevelopment of the former Home Depot site in Austin. His work has been published in The Plan Journal, Architect Magazine, and Thresholds.
He has taught at Rice, Syracuse, and the University of Texas at Austin, where he currently teaches design studios, theory seminars, and housing-related electives. His studio “A Home is Not a House” won the 2018 Architect Magazine Studio Prize, and he received the 2022 ACSA/AIA Housing Design Education Award.
Author: Camilo Meneses. MCH Manager
