Madre Project Low-tech Community

Project Description

The Madre Project envisions a self-sufficient educational community in Milan’s Corvetto–Chiaravalle fringe, where architecture supports production, sustainability, and social connection. The proposal includes a low-tech collective house for 10 students and instructors who grow wheat and bake bread as part of their daily routine.

Rooted in principles such as horizontality, cooperation, and reflexivity, the modular units form a larger communal structure. The masterplan incorporates passive strategies like south-facing roofs, rainwater harvesting, solar gain, and organic recycling to establish an energy-circulating system.

Using Grasshopper, solar radiation and direct sun-hour analyses informed site layout and building orientation. The student housing unit was detailed to 1:20, with louver and window design optimized for seasonal sun angles and interior comfort.