MSc - Hybrid Buildings

Hybrid Buildings are receiving increasing attention in contemporary architectural debates and practices, showing the attempt to escape the traditional but arid binomial form-function by addressing buildings with multiple performances. They combine different programs into a ‘hybrid’ whole and show new ways of organizing space. Therefore, rather than looking for mere programmatic solutions, hybrid buildings offer up to date answers to our way of living, working and entertaining. The scope of the program is to bring up different combinations of types of space, functions and constructive systems in order to create opportunities for alternative social and urban dynamics.

Hybrid Buildings as catalysts of urban transformations

The master program Hybrid Buildings focuses on the design project as key to anticipate future transformations of the city. Architectural interventions within existing urban environments require a conscious understanding of urban transformation processes and an adequate knowledge of changes in building typologies. We believe that the design of Hybrid Buildings should reflect on their urban significance and on the position they take in the historical development of the place. Architectural interventions aiming to be ‘urban’ cannot be defined outside the context of the city and its realization. Consequently, research on cities and their history must be considered as an important component of this master program.