“An intro week has the sole purpose of bringing together new students in a dynamic that warms them up for the year to come. The activation of their creative skills, observation and digression capacity and abstraction and materialisation skills is a must here, as the MDI is designed as a very intense academic year which requires deep commitment and constant performance from its students. Hence, the Intro Week has this skill-set activation as one of its main goals.

Nevertheless, this would never be achieved if the designer’s group does not fit together as a team as well as feel at home in the city. Most of the students come from abroad, being central to this introduction event the familiarisation of the group with the receiving city, Madrid, and setting a social foundation between them.

Taking these goals as a reference, the Intro Week develops research in the city through an exploration of different neighbourhoods and contexts. These morning explorations are translated every afternoon in the master space. A dynamic that makes them work, individually and in groups, in order to activate each student’s individual skills as well as their group dynamics.

The Week finalises with an exhibition where all this research is shown to mentors, heads of department and program staff. Creating an environment which, loaded with those creative experiences, enables a horizontal communication between all of those who will be the main protagonists of the academic year.”