PROGRAM STRUCTURE

The program consists of 600 hours (60 ECTS). Each credit is associated to 25 personal studying-working hours. Participants will develop their design skills through an intensive series of one-week workshops and complete their theoretical knowledge in specialty seminars.  Sometimes additional supporting documents or written information about the lectures will be provided to all students.

All workshop and specialties are mandatory in order to receive the MCH Diploma.

The Master of advanced studies in Collective Housing is keen on teamwork because it is the way offices and research labs function today.

In the past years, MCH has built a close relationship with great architects such as Dietmar Eberle, Felix Claus, Anne Lacaton, Frits van Dongen, Anna Heringer, Hrvoje Njiriç, Juan Herreros, Dick van Gameren, Riken Yamamoto, Cino Zucchi, Jacob van Rijs, Alejandro Aravena, Andrea Deplazes, Max Risselada or Wiel Arets, who are regular workshop leaders. It is the interaction between teachers and participants that generates the greatest results and production each year.

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One-week workshops offer participants a place to further develop the acquired knowledge during the year. During that week, there is a change of pace in which they take a break from the other specialties and intensify their work in the workshops to make the best out of it.

The topic and approach for every workshop is different and the methodology used by the invited architect is also meant to vary in order to give the participant a wide range of cases to learn from.

Each workshop leader is matched with a young local architect, who acts as teaching assistant.

Each workshop consists of 25 teaching hours (7x 2.5 ECTS), although exceptions may occur. However, workshop leaders usually take their task as a full-day activity and invest more time than expected.

Get more details about each workshop here.

Each specialty seminar is coordinated by a technical director who lectures together with a group of teachers and specialists from all over the world. Specialty seminars have different teaching hours each, which can slightly vary from edition to edition. In any case, the approach is basically practical. 

Get more details about each specialty here.

MCH has included in some editions of its program the possibility to qualify as LEED Green Associate. 

Energy Certification Systems are the official face of sustainable design practices. Although it offers a reductive approach to energy and architecture through checklists —such as those provided by LEED Certification Systems— it is recommended for participants for at least two reasons: 

1, It can be helpful to find a job; 2, To be critical with certification systems, you need to know them first hand.

There are multiple certification systems currently being used (BREEAM, Minergie, Calener, Líder, etc.). However, the American LEED —which stands for Leadership in Energy Environmental Design— is internationally the most well-known, which makes us chose LEED as a reference. 

The LEED seminar, led by instructor Daniel Martín. He is a LEED® Faculty™, being one of the 93 professionals —only two of them are based in Europe— trained by the USGB to teach their official higher level LEED workshops.

There are planned trips in Madrid and abroad, where buildings subject of study, housing-related institutions and universities will be visited, accompanied by architects and/or experts.

Travel costs as well as hotel reservations, visits and shuttle buses are included in the tuition fee (personal expenses are not).

In previous editions, MCH has travelled to The Netherlands, France, United Kingdom and Switzerland. In this trip participants will have a chance to experience at first hand some of the most relevant housing buildings, architecture offices and housing-related companies.

In past editions, MCH has established collaboration agreements with ETH Zurich, Architectural Association in London and TU Delft, fostering the interaction between teachers and students.

Participants will have to deliver a master’s project, which will have a portfolio format and will include a selection of the projects produced during the year. It will act as their new portfolio, which adds on to their previous projects.

One of MCH publications, the MCH Papers 2011, is a compilation of participants’ results during that edition.

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