• Soft Skills

The Final Design Studio provides a complex and multidisciplinary planning experience, combined with the deepening of some specific issues at the center of the practice, culture and contemporary architectural debate. Through a design experimentation characterized in the different laboratories by the various topics and in-depth scale addressed, the common goal is to develop a synthesis project that combines the theoretical argumentation of the proposed theme with the applied activity based on the skills and know-how gained during the three-year educational path.

An innovative teaching activity (1 cfu) entitled "Projectelling" is planned with the aim to increase the communication skills of the results of the design activity.

After the studio experience the student is able to systematize the different knowledge learned both during the previous years and within the studio, promoting the synergy between scientific, technological, artistic and humanistic disciplines in order to enrich and integrate the reference areas that occur in the design activity.

Title

Metropolitan Landscapes in Transition: Unveiling Collective, Spatial, and Cultural Patterns in the Madrid Urban-Rural Fringe

Course Objectives

This integrated course investigates the evolving relationships between urban and rural territories in contemporary metropolitan contexts by combining spatial design, landscape thinking, and historical-critical reflection. Focusing on the Madrid urban-rural fringe, particularly the Tajuña Valley, it engages students in analyzing how processes of urbanization, infrastructure development, and cultural memory intersect to shape hybrid and transitional landscapes.

Students will explore how metropolitan landscapes function as complex ecological and infrastructural systems, and how they can be reimagined as public and collective spaces. Through an interdisciplinary lens, the course aims to develop design strategies that bridge fragmented geographies, integrate sustainable and resilient infrastructures, and reflect historically informed urban and architectural thinking.

The integration of historical analysis with territorial planning and landscape design encourages students to read and intervene in the built environment as both a physical and symbolic construct. Ultimately, the course empowers students to conceive new “progetti di suolo” that are spatially coherent, socially inclusive, and ecologically embedded.

Expected Outcomes

Students will acquire a critical understanding of urban-rural dynamics, collective infrastructures, and historical frameworks that shape metropolitan development. They will:

• Learn to interpret spatial transitions across scales using advanced cartographic, analytical, and narrative tools (GIS, typological studies, mapping systems).
• Develop architectural and landscape strategies that respond to ecological interdependencies and public needs.
• Connect historical discourses and urban theory to contemporary design thinking, using precedent studies as a conceptual foundation.
• Produce comprehensive territorial visions and architectural responses that reflect both research-based reasoning and design creativity.
• Present their work through compelling visual storytelling, technical precision, and scholarly reflection.

By the end of the course, students will be equipped to operate in metropolitan contexts with an integrated understanding of spatial transformation, public space, and memory.

Topics Covered

Urban-Rural Dynamics and Territorial Transitions

• Understanding metropolitan peripheries through concepts such as fringe, hinterland, and threshold
• Reading the Madrid urban-rural fringe as a dynamic site of negotiation between urban growth, rural identity, and infrastructural development
• Stakeholder mapping and socio-territorial analysis

Collective Landscapes and Public Infrastructure

• Urban metabolism and ecological systems as design frameworks
• Landscape as a civic and environmental infrastructure
• Hybrid typologies and the role of public space in transitional territories
• Design approaches to green and grey infrastructures

Historical and Theoretical Frameworks

• Key urban and architectural paradigms of the 20th century
• Seminal projects and planning models (garden cities, CIAM, infrastructural utopias)
• Memory, identity, and the symbolic role of space in urban transformation
• Methodologies for connecting architectural history to contemporary design challenges

Strategic Design and Progetto di Suolo

• Territorial cartography, GIS analysis, and mapping of ecological and social flows
• Interscalar strategies: from regional systems to architectural articulations
• Spatial narratives and morphological interpretations
• Integration of traditional architectural typologies into new metropolitan conditions

Collaborative Development and Critical Presentation

• Team-based strategy formulation and thematic coordination across four study sites (Perales de Tajuña, Ambite, Nuevo Baztán, Mondéjar)
• Site-specific design interventions rooted in group-developed visions
• Public exhibition and academic critique with external experts
• Final reflection linking historical insight, spatial logic, and collective futures

• SDG6 - CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
• SDG9 - INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
• SDG11 - SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES

Our methodology aligns with UN-Habitat’s integrated approach, which emphasizes the interconnection of at least three targets of SDG 11 with relevant targets from other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 6 and SDG 9.

In our framework, we address:

• SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities: by focusing on targets such as 11.1 (access to adequate, safe and affordable housing), 11.6 (reducing environmental impact of cities), and 11.b (adopting integrated policies for climate resilience and disaster risk management).

• SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation: through integration with targets like 6.1 (universal access to safe drinking water) and 6.3 (improving water quality and wastewater treatment), ensuring that urban development plans include equitable access to water and sanitation infrastructure.

• SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: by promoting target 9.1 (developing quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure) and 9.4 (upgrading infrastructure and industries to be more sustainable), particularly within urban and peri-urban environments.

By weaving together these goals, our methodology supports a systems-thinking approach to urban sustainability. We recognize that resilient cities cannot be built without ensuring universal access to clean water and without fostering sustainable infrastructure that supports innovation and equity.

During the educational path the sequence of the courses and the order of registration of the related exam must follow the priority specified in the Study Programme Regulation.

The evaluation will be ongoing through weekly tasks. 

Open seminars will be organised to discuss relevant issues during the semester. The groups will discuss the same topics with the course professors and experts.

As part of their work, students will be asked to write a paper on a specific topic connecting the city narrative and the project.