Dezeen School Shows: a project detailing the cultural and agricultural importance of haystacks in Switzerland is included in Dezeen's latest school show by students at IE University.

Also included is a city network that connects travellers and residents through food and a thesis that explores the environmental impact of pollution caused by the fashion industry.

IE University

Institution: IE University
School: IE School of Architecture and Design
Courses: Bachelor in Architectural Studies and Bachelor in Design
Tutors: Mariona Benedito and Edgar González

School statement:

"The Bachelor in Architectural Studies prepares students to transform the world and make meaningful environments.

"With a project-based approach to learning and a diverse body of faculty and students, the program synthesises creative, technical, environmental and social considerations, driven by a forward-looking and entrepreneurial spirit.

"We teach our students to master the essential tools and skills of the architect while simultaneously encouraging them to think broadly and creatively about how these tools and skills might be used in the future.

"Thanks to IE School of Architecture and Design's international recognition, this bachelor's degree has an exclusive internship programme that will allow you to gain invaluable work experience in some of the most prestigious studios worldwide.

"The Bachelor in Design is a comprehensive degree that seeks to challenge today's physical, experiential, functional and emotional reality.

"Designed for flexible and audacious individuals seeking creative solutions for a better and more sustainable life, this degree uses a unique combination of a solid foundation in design, a demanding project-based methodology and a focus on real-life challenges.

"Rigorous scientific and creative aspects of design are combined with a business perspective, allowing you to transform and improve people's daily lives."

Guardians of Hay by Juana Mom

"The revolutionary advances in mechanisation and new technologies substituting human labour and pre-industrial techniques drove the fading image of agriculture, cultural heritage and material culture.

"This project highlights a specific and fundamental stage in the traditional farming technique of hay-hand making through one particular element: the haystack, a method of drying and storing hay after fresh cutting.

"An intensive research focuses on a specific haystack, called triste in Switzerland, practised passionately and with a predominant regional role in the landscape and feeding management.

"Nevertheless, given the present-day circumstances, the challenge persists in transmitting and documenting to the present and next generation the knowledge and beauty of an authentic coexistence between humans and nature.

"This project attempts to enhance the tradition, holding the existence of haystacks, re-integrating past perspectives and reshaping the rural image through festivity and cooperation."

Student: Juana Mom
Course: Bachelor in Design

The Ocean Nation by Francesca Norrington

"Today, less than eight per cent of the sea is protected – within that eight per cent, one per cent constitutes the High Seas, which refers to any marine territory beyond Exclusive Economic Zones.

"This project proposes redesigning ocean conservation by dismantling the hierarchy between humans and more-than-humans. The liberation of the oceans begins with empowering them socially and politically.

"This project aims to initiate a critical debate on the monetisation of the marine environment by drawing from two parallel narratives that explore the perception, extraction and conservation of the oceans throughout history.

"One perspective is rooted in art, literature, and philosophy, particularly the Blue Sublime.

"The other perspective examines the political and economic bias that has shaped supposed 'conservation' treaties and policies, ultimately facilitating extraction."

Student: Francesca Norrington
Course: Bachelor in Design

Message in a Bottle by Maria Fernanda Soto

"This piece presents research findings about Cocuy – a distilled, fermented liquor – in Venezuela, highlighting its historical significance and cultural richness.

"It proposes a socio-economic reorganisation centred around Cocuy, aiming to create new economic opportunities for the industry and the country.

"Despite being marginalised in the past due to political agendas, Cocuy has gained popularity and interest among younger generations, representing decades of Venezuelan history.

"The project suggests rebuilding the relationship between cocuyeros (Cocuy producers) and the rest of the country, ensuring equitable remuneration for the communities involved in planting, harvesting, fermentation and distillation.

"In summary, this piece explores a promising economic opportunity for both the country and the cocuyeros community, seeking to reconcile two contrasting realities rooted in love for Venezuela and its identity."

Student: Maria Fernanda Soto
Course: Bachelor in Design

Metro Futures by María Roig

"Metro Futures is a research project investigating air pollution in underground systems, specifically inside Madrid's Metro.

"Air quality depletion is a silent yet escalating problem caused by hazardous materials and inefficient resource management, with a concerning lack of data.

"To tackle this problem, this strategy aims to find a common interest between public and private stakeholders by visualising the future health, social and economic consequences of air pollution through speculative scenarios.

"From a transformational collaboration between all stakeholders to unilateral approaches descending into a dystopian reality, Metro Futures works as an interactive campaign that collects signatures to implement an air quality monitoring system inside the metro, allowing users to interact with the air they breathe on their daily commute."

Student: María Roig
Course: Bachelor in Design

The Inbetween Condition – Mente Cuerpo y Alma: Redefining the Fringe of Palma de Mallorca by Catarina Gill de Barros Leonel

"After years of development, layers of infrastructure have been added to the coastline of the city of Palma de Mallorca, particularly along the bay, creating a barrier between the neighbourhood of El Terreno and the water.

"Locals no longer have the beautiful connection they once had, as they are met with a wall of hotels, a six-lane highway and a marina filled with boats.

"This project is an opportunity to redefine the wall by reconfiguring the existing Tito's Nightclub, with the primary focus of bringing the water back to the people.

"This is crucial at this time in history with the rising sea levels and the increasing temperature. This project aims to be a place for the locals to find comfort to exercise their mind, body and soul.

"The main scopes of the proposal are to physically and visibly connect the neighbourhood with the coastline, minimise the traffic while increasing pedestrian access, and introduce accessible and swimmable water as an urban programme, all incorporated in a garden-like atmosphere.

"The project stretches from the neighbourhood to the ocean while maintaining open space, an attempt at breaking the current barrier."

Student: Catarina Gill de Barros Leonel
Course: Bachelor in Architectural Studies

La Catedral: Foundation for the Fututre of Agriculture and Food by Ludwig Hochleitner

"This project involves the re-use of a grain silo. Due to the agrarian history of the silo, its future will be related to agriculture and food.

"The project aims to explore alternative and unconventional ways of thinking about food production and focuses on two diverging relationships – that of art and science and that of old and young.

"It involves the story of seniors, especially in the evolution of the countryside in recent decades.

"On the one hand, it should be attractive to seniors that could be gardeners, volunteers and teachers, but also a place of interest for young talent looking to the future.

"The insights of seniors, including those that are retired farmers, could inform the future-oriented experiments of young researchers at the foundation."

Student: Ludwig Hochleitner
Course: Bachelor in Architectural Studies

El Refugio del Peregrino by Maria Dolores Lopez Ibarra

"The proposal embodies a reimagined concept of a senior living facility, where older adults and large groups of pilgrims coexist in a diverse community setting.

"Additionally, aligning with the project's vision, there is a strong emphasis on actively engaging with the city's vibrancy by creating open public spaces and offering a range of activities such as community workshops, theatre performances and informative lectures.

"In this design approach, the plot harmoniously integrates into the surrounding hill, merging with the natural landscape.

"By embracing this concept, the plot becomes an inviting space that implements a range of vibrant and inclusive public programmes that cater to the diverse interests and needs of the city's residents and visitors.

"The construction systems employed in the project incorporate steel structures and terracotta facades that serve as a contemporary method of paying homage to the surrounding buildings, maintaining harmony with the existing architectural context."

Student: Maria Dolores Lopez Ibarra
Course: Bachelor in Architectural Studies

A New Tide: Reimagining Mollet by Javier Madero

"Historically, Palma has turned inward for defence and developing its inland economy – the coastline was virtually untouched.

"The first expansion into the sea came with industrialisation, which led to the coastline being occupied by ports, trade and industry.

"The next expansion of the coastline came with the touristic boom, and the necessary infrastructure to accommodate this new industry.

"Today, Palma has a disproportionate concentration of environmental degradation compared to the rest of the island and the country – the most significant forms are plastic waste and emissions from vehicles on land and sea.

"Contramuelle Mollet today is almost completely of restricted access and occupied by parking lots and roads – these barriers restrict civilian access to the sea for kilometres.

"This project aims to redefine new public spaces and transform the main dock into an element that reaches into the sea and creates opportunities for interaction with it."

Student: Javier Madero
Course: Bachelor in Architectural Studies

El Receso: An Homage to the Ritual of Dining (Logroño, Spain) by Elvan Z Gurbuzturk

"The newest addition to Logroño's urban network, El Receso, is situated by Parque del Ebro on a site previously occupied by Aparcamiento Revellin.

"Honoring Logroño's rich history as a place of passage, it aims to bring together the pilgrims of Camino de Santiago, the locals of Logroño, and neighbours from surrounding towns through a shared passion for food.

"A traveller stops to eat and rest, the most significant break in the working day is the lunch break, and eating is the most valid excuse for pause.

"In a city where gastronomic activity holds great importance, the opportunity to increase contact points between the residents, neighbours and pilgrims through food should be taken advantage of.

"El Receso is a space where one can experience the entirety of the ritual of food, from buying local agricultural produce to cooking communally, eating communally and engaging in sobremesa (dessert) communally."

Student: Elvan Z Gurbuzturk
Course: Bachelor in Architectural Studies

Dirty Business by Clara Batista

"Dirty Business is a detailed exploration of the textile industry's obscured practices, the manipulation of our primal instinct of disgust and its application in material exploration and textile alternatives.

"It begins with the dissection of the innate emotion of disgust and its versatility with the socio-cultural constructs of 'dirt'.

"This thesis reveals how repulsion, an evolutionary survival mechanism, has been hacked by cultural norms to establish boundaries within our society.

"At the core of this investigation, the 'dirty' practices of the textile industry will be uncovered, spotlighting the industry's environmental, social, and sanitary misconducts.

"The objective is to redirect the automatic response of disgust toward these industry's controversial practices, inciting dialogue and encouraging a shift in societal perception.

"The project symbolises these influences by demystifying two widely stigmatised materials, human hair and mycelium fungi, revealing their inherent potential and challenging their negative connotations."

Student: Clara Batista
Course: Bachelor in Design

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and IE University. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.