In this Virtual Design Festival school show, architecture and design graduates from Spain's IE University share projects ranging from a delivery robot to the branding for a fictitious dictatorship.

Fourteen students from the university's BArch and BDes courses worked independently or collaboratively to create the 10 projects shared below.

IE University

University: IE University
Courses: Bachelor in Architectural Studies and Bachelor in Design

Bachelor in Architectural Studies course statement:

"At IE University, we empower our students to help them understand every aspect of our built environment. Our programs engage with the world around us to provide students with the tools to change it.

"The Bachelor in Architectural Studies prepares students to impact change through the creation of meaningful environments, driven by a forward-looking spirit of entrepreneurship. With a project-based learning approach and a diverse body of faculty and students, the program synthesizes creative, technical, environmental and social considerations to maximize results."

Bachelor in Design course statement:

"The Bachelor in Design is a comprehensive degree that seeks to challenge today's physical, experiential, functional and emotional reality. It is aimed at audacious and highly adaptable individuals who can seek creative solutions for a more sustainable tomorrow—even when faced with limited resources."

New Luxury Business Models and Chinese Tax Fraud in Madrid by Miguel Gutiérrez Ambrossi Larios and Alejandra Diaz Zuleta, BDes

"This project deals with the dichotomous relationship between money laundering and tourism. We focused on activities related to the Chinese mafia in Madrid and proposed potential solutions with the help of existing technologies and legal frameworks, such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) and free ports.

"Our proposed solutions include using existing infrastructure such as airplanes and airports in combination with free port areas to reinvent the luxury shopping experience, as well as implementing RFID technologies within airport security systems."

Students: Miguel Gutiérrez Ambrossi Larios and Alejandra Diaz Zuleta
Emails: [email protected] and [email protected]
Studio: Design Studio III (Spatial Design)
Professor: Igor Bragado

HOOLY by Yoko Hwang Kaetsu and Nicole Andreina Beltran Carballo, BDes

"The prompt for HOOLY was to design a delivery robot within a specific context, taking into consideration its system, safety and interaction with humans.

"HOOLY is an autonomous service robot within the Holiday Inn Express brand, designed to ensure that guests are taken care of at any time.

"It features a table system for each room, as well as various compartments for room service delivery and tray disposal, a charging port and most importantly a touchscreen with a well-designed, user-friendly interface."

Students: Yoko Hwang Kaetsu and Nicole Andreina Beltran Carballo
Emails: [email protected] and [email protected]
Studio: Design Studio II (Product Design)
Professor: Hector Serrano

Minzovsk by Mónica María Pastor and Naqiya Mustafa Kantawala, BDes

"Countries are some of the most distinct 'brands'. Like any brand, they have recognizable traits, rules, values, references and colours, which people associate with them.

"We created the branding for a fictitious, dictatorial country named Minzovsk, located in the Bering Sea between Russia and Alaska. Our beloved country was formed by our incredible ruler Vlademir Minzovski I in 1945 by capturing the land from the native Inuits and beating the Soviet Army.

"By order of our absolute, irrefutable ruler, we obey the strict social order. Every citizen must follow orthodox Christianity only. Through this exercise, we were able to put into practice the technical and strategic skills required to create a brand from the ground up."

Students: Mónica María Pastor and Naqiya Mustafa Kantawala
Emails: [email protected] and [email protected]
Studio: Design Studio I (Visual Design)
Professor: Ritxi Ostáriz

Dusk Till Dawn by Carla Rotenburg and Lucia de la Torre, BDes

"Dusk till Dawn enables a night owl and an early riser to adapt to each other's natural rhythm. While one is in their natural productive mode, the other wears the headpiece to stay awake. The cast forehead headpiece balances the unbearable and the comfortable, triggering the senses and increasing focus.

"It achieves this through pressing on three main pressure points and is secured by two wire structures that cause some discomfort underneath the jaw. Curtains of metallic beads and bells cover the ears, triggering sound at the slightest movement.

"Inspired by the work of Maiko Takeda, the structure consists of iridescent plastic pieces  which reflect light and create a flickering movement that disturbs but does not inhibit sight."

Students: Carla Rotenburg and Lucia de la Torre
Emails: [email protected] and [email protected]
Studio: Introduction to Design Studio II
Professors: Arantxa Ozaeta and Alvaro Martin

Distance to Breathe by John Petrus, BDes

"Distance to Breathe is a critical design piece with the intention of provoking discussion about relationships in a dystopian future plagued by pollution and disease. Two interconnected individuals find themselves stuck in a system based on tension and collaboration, confined by the necessary conditions for survival.

"Two ergonomic masks are held in place as long as the two individuals stand apart, allowing them to breathe while the required distance is maintained. The exoskeleton was designed to resemble the human spine while technology has become an extension of the self. Have we lost our distance to breathe?"

Student: John Petrus
Email: [email protected]
Studio: Introduction to Design Studio II
Professors: Arantxa Ozaeta and Alvaro Martin

R+D Cuatro Caminos by Haitam Daoudi, BArch

"This project aims to promote critical thinking through facilitating the practice of research and development within urban life. Water is a continuous element across the site and the main object of study, which introduces a natural system of water purification large enough to service the population of the site.

"This process happens in three steps, divided into different ponds with particular characteristics— depth, sunlight and species. The intervention partially reuses existing industrial structures in the north, while incorporating a new construction towards the south that acts as a buffer to the surroundings.

"The water system connects four main plazas through a river promenade to create a pedagogical green corridor where life and exploration merge. R&D is integrated throughout as well as public spaces, providing an opportunity to mix these two uses with the daily life of the residents."

Student: Haitam Daoudi
Email: [email protected]
Studio: Design Studio V
Professors: Cem Kayatekin and Fernando Pino

El Faro de La Trinidad by Miriam Otto Hernández Palacios, BArch

"El Faro proposes an intervention at the cultural heritage site and former convent La Trinidad in Málaga. It establishes an architecture of belonging and guidance, encouraging social and cultural exchange and providing women with a space to reconstruct their self-confidence and independence.

"The safe house functions as a temporary and permanent refuge for women who have suffered from domestic violence, offering a space for healing and reconstruction, as well as a market for social and professional encounters with the outside world.

"El Faro is based on the idea of communal living and Málaga's existing architectural typologies. Within the scale of the monastery, it explores how the domestic sphere can be translated into the monumental, breaking the order of the existing."

Student: Miriam Otto Hernández Palacios
Email: [email protected]
Studio: Design Studio IV
Professors: Romina Canna and Marcela Aragüez

Carbanchel Library by June Aoun, BArch

"A contemporary library set in suburban Madrid serves as a cultural hub for all residents of the neighbourhood.

"A careful massing strategy provides demographic separation, dividing residents by age group but keeping them in sight of each other with interposed terraces. The masses interconnect and merge in certain areas, forming common spaces for cross circulation.

"A play of heights and scales creates an experience of pleasant intrigue and surprise while moving through spaces. The contrast lies in the various interstitial spaces created by the interlocking masses."

Student: June Aoun
Email: [email protected]
Studio: Design Studio III
Professors: Matan Mayer and Sandra Herrera

Body Narratives on Architecture and the Senses by Daniela Figueroa, BArch

"The purpose of this project was to design an intervention at the Mercado De los Mostenses in Madrid. While studying proprioception in the human body and how architecture can affect our sense of space, I developed the concept of superhumans – people who have different capabilities from what we consider 'normal'.

"Monotonous activities such as walking, shopping or taking public transportation can become a challenge for many people. This idea inspired SENUD – a shopping area that manipulates space to create different sensations that disrupt normality."

Student: Daniela Figueroa
Email: [email protected]
Studio: Design Studio II
Professors: José Vela Castillo and Laura Martínez de Guereñu

Crossing the Stream by José María Casado Gómez, BArch

"Crossing the Stream anticipates the future of urban planning and redefines the space between the two metropolises of Don Benito and Villanueva de la Serena. The aim of the project is to create a natural conurbation of the two towns by implementing various infrastructures within a metropolitan park.

"This will allow for pedestrian communication while transforming the stream from a dividing line into the key feature of the conurbation. The linear park will create public and leisure spaces to increase the quality of life around the area. The project will consolidate the conurbation between the two towns and transform them into the third most populous city in Extremadura."

Student: José María Casado Gómez
Email: [email protected]
Studio: Design Studio VII/PFG
Professors: Fernando Rodríguez and Matan Mayer

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