Study Report

General Information

Jaap Le Bsc 5 Minor Spain - Madrid Universidad Politecnica de Madrid - Escuela Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid Period abroad (from 2 5 / 0 8 / 2 0 1 4 to 20 /12 /2014 ) 5 months Composition of study programme: minor abroad: project and 4 courses

^reparation and contact with your own faculty

The last couple of months I have been doing my minor at the School of Architecture (ETSAM) of the technical University of Madrid (UPM) in Spain. My study programme consisted of a number of experimental courses, a project and a language course and I v/as able to get an Erasmus-i-programme grant for this semester. To get this grant it is necessary to go through a bureaucratic, inconvenient, document signing frenzy but I can guarantee you that in the end it is v/orth it.

In the beginning I got a lot of information about the different cities through reports lilce the one you are reading. They helped me orient and compare the differences betv/een the possible locations. After that I had a lot of help from the home University international office. I guess they v/ere as fed up as I was with all the Erasmus rules but they manage to answer me through mail and help me out in their question hour. A lot of information about the normal procedures and language capabilities, which were completely changed by the Erasmus headquarters the year I went (2014), I got through their help and although at some points they couldn't help me because it was as new to them as to me, my general opinion is positive about their help. What finally helped me make my decision to go to Spain and Madrid in particular was that I contacted some students I knew who were there for their Erasmus and they recommended it in such way they convinced me. Later they also helped me to get started when I went to Madrid. After the acceptance the Madrid international office were very responsive and helpful but their website was a disaster. Everything was in Spanish and it was very hard to find proper course descriptions but in the end it does not really matter what you fill in on the first learning agreement; you have to change everything anyway. The recognition of my study results was not difficult to arrange in advance; it just did not made sense to do this before stay because everything changed and you have to do it again during stay and, although it was not that difficult, it was a lot of hassle about signatures from all parties in the correct order (board of examiners, home international office, host international office) and it takes some time. I hope and think that all my results will be recognised now I have returned but I don't know yet because my grades in Madrid have to be processed. So mainly it is not very difficult to arrange everything; it just takes a lot of your time and patience but in the end it is totally worth iti

Study programme

As I said before my study programme consisted of three experimental courses, a project and a Spanish language course. I wanted to study abroad because in my opinion any profession is practiced differently in other countries and by experience these differences you will become not only a better professional (architect in my case) but also richer as human being. I can say that my expectations were fairly met in the end; most courses were interesting and showed a different approach to design solutions as we are used to see here in Delft and my main goal to go

to Spain, to learn the language, has been fairly reached. The level is similar to that of the faculty in Delft. You will notice that the Spanish students have some other capabilties than we do but generally spoken it was quite indifferent. The University of Madrid is known for its technical education and because of this the students tend to know more about this but they spend less time analysing and shaping concepts. They also tend to work a lot more with programs like AutoCAD or Rhino then I was used to in Delft and another difference is that while in Delft we are taught a more functional or rational approach the Spanish tend to design a building from its experience. The system of choosing your courses is quite different than that of Delft; in Madrid (as Erasmus student) you can just choose whatever course or project you want. In the first two weeks you can test different courses you are interested before you have to choose. As for projects the system in Madrid has a lot more possibilities to choose from. For every semester (proyectos 1,2,3,4 etc.) there are about 10 teachers which offer a different project.

1 choose proyectos 4 from the teacher Morell which I can recommend if you are not afraid to work. It was a really interesting course about Arabic architecture and we had to do 5 small projects of 2 weeks each and in the end work another 3 weeks on one of these projects. We had a trip to Cordoba in the south of Spain and worked on unusual projects like a chapel, a fountain or a new minaret and this really broaden my view as an architect. But you are expected to work your ass of in this course; every week deadlines which contain drawings and complete models which is quiet hard in small projects of only 2 weeks. Although I later heard that it was one of the hardest projects of this semester and the teachers are quiet rough against the students, I would love to do another project with this teacher who always has unusual locations linked in history like Greece, Turkey, Kenya or Ethiopia.

I would love to recommend the experimental courses I took but I do not know if it is possible to choose them in the future because the system of Madrid is going to change. In my year there were two different study programmes: old (plan 96) and new (plan 2010) and I am afraid that the old plan where I took all my experimental courses is finished next year. Anyway if they still have them I would love to recommend Dibujo Avanzado 1 and Construción Industrializada. The first is a drawing course where we drew abstract and figurative paintings and learned about different artists throughout history and composition techniques. The second was a course where we made a lot of visits to buildings in and around Madrid which had an interesting technical concept and next to that we had to make a small project.

If the old plan has stopped I can still recommend to do experimental courses in the new plan because they are easier to pass, interesting and different than the usual courses we have to do in Delft as well.

The intensive language course I took in the beginning is another recommendation. As all courses are in Spanish it is really necessary to master the language and the intensive course in the beginning of the semester forces you to not only learn a basic Spanish but also to meet a lot of other international students which in my case ended up as the people I saw most outside university.

In general I think the university was quite okay; the organisation was a bit old school with paperwork (bring some passport photos!) and there were some inconveniences, per example printing or internet, but the people and teachers working there were supportive. You have to be a bit patient to adjust because it is not as well organised as in Delft but in the end it works. Communication between the home international office in Delft and me was acceptable. I guess answering took longer this year because of the new Erasmus rules but I was not that quick with replying myself either and they were not mad about it. I would have loved to stay another semester here but I am not sad to return as well so my stay was long enough but it could be longer.

Funding and prerequisites

I applied for an Erasmus+ fund and because of tfie new Erasmus rules there were different rates for different countries. In my case I got about €200,- a month divided over 2 payments; the first one (70% of total amount) supposed to be around the end of August but I had to wait till the end of October due to the new rules and the second one (30%) I will probably get in the end of February, after my results are submitted. As I stated before it was not very difficult to get the documents signed to apply for Erasmus, it just takes a lot of patience and effort. The payments, documents and information took a lot longer than it was supposed to which I can understand because of the new rules. The costs in Madrid were comparable to the costs in Holland. Supermarkets and restaurants are a bit cheaper in Madrid but I paid more rent and I went out more often. Next to that there were some incidental big spends per example the language course I took. Insurance was arranged through subscribing for the student insurance in OSIRIS and the Dutch embassy. To make payments I brought just my ING bank card but I can recommend to bring a credit card as well because it is possible that you need it for some payments which cannot be made by debit card.

It is very difficult to give a summary like the one below because of incidental payments and not keeping up such an account during my stay but I will try to give an impression:

Accommodation € 4 3 0 (bit expensive) Food € 300 (wild guess) Insurance € 0 ? (don't remember) Local travelling costs € 60 (35 for the metrocard for >23 years otherwise 55) Textbooks/course material € 30 (model and drawing material) Entertainment € 200

(model and drawing material)

Language course € 70 (language course in the beginning o f the year 350) Other € 15 (phone costs)

Total t

€ 1 105

Accommodation

To find a room in Madrid I recommend using the website idealista.com where you can easily find a room in shared houses (there ore a lot of filters like price and area). I can advise you to not take the first room you find as quick as possible because there are a lot of rooms submitted every day and you can find nice stuff there. Madrid exists out of different neighbourhoods and to live I can recommend Arguelles (between university and the city center), Lavapies (cheap houses in a multicultural neighbourhood), Malasaha, La Latino or Chueca (hip barrios, bit more expensive, lots of nightlife). All these barrios are close to the centre but the exact centre, the barrios Sol, Huertas or Palacio is a lot more noisier and expensive. I lived close to the palace in the city centre but I wouldn't recommend it; my room was not so big (12m2), a bit expensive and we shared a small living room and kitchen among 7 students. I think everybody has about 10 desires about their room; quiet, exterior (you can end up with rooms without windows), nice location, nice roommates, with some Spanish speaking people, clean, cheap, bright etc. and I have to say it is difficult to find something which has all these included. So I guess you should be happy when seven of these ten desires ore there; I saw picky people searching for over a month and ending up worse than I did because of the big demand of rooms in the end of September so: search but not too long. Prices vary between 250 and 600 and closer to the centre rooms are more expensive.

Language and Culture

All courses were given in Spanish so I highly recommencl to start with language courses before you go. I took the basic A l level course at the Delft university and an intense A2 course in Madrid and I came along pretty well in the end but coming here without knowledge, especially for Dutch speakers ( it is easier of course when you are able to speak French or Italian) it will be very hard to get along with studying. For me one of the main reasons to go was to learn Spanish because I think it is a beautiful language which is spoken in a lot of parts around the world. In the beginning it was difficult to have conversations but you will notice when you try to speak Spanish the people are very patient, friendly and willing to help you out. A tip to learn it quicker is to try to find a house where Spanish people are living or at least try to speak it with your roommates.

Of course there are cultural differences between hlolland and Spain but not as big to say that it was difficult to cope with them. I saw it more like opportunities to get to know the culture a bit better.

It is very easy to get friends among other Erasmus students and maybe because of that I didn't have so many Spanish friends but it is not so difficult if you really go for it. Spanish students in general are open and willing to help. If you show interest in their culture they are happy to do stuff together and as I said before it is good to find Spanish roommates not only for learning the language but as well for finding nice places to go and learning the culture.

-ree time

Madrid is a great place for nightlife and cultural activities; you will find a great variety of good bars, restaurants, clubs, cinemas, theatres and museums. For nightlife I went a lot to the barrios Malasana and La Latino which ore loaded with nice little gems to find whatever you wont. Something to take notice considering nightlife; there are two kind of bars: before 1 am and after 1 am. Early in the night you can find a lot of cheap bars where you can get o 'cafia' for no more than 1 euro but in the after hour clubs or bars a beer at least cost about 5 euro. A tactic we used a lot when in a bar like that is going out for a smoke or something and buying cold canned beers from street sellers but you hove to watch out for police doing this because drinking in the street con get you a fine of € 600,-, so be careful.

Apart from nightlife Madrid is known as a cultural capital with some very good museums. If you go here you definitively hove to visit el Prodo (old paintings) and Reina Sofia (modern art) both free for students and having some of the most impressive paintings I sow in my life. Next to these two giants I con also recommend to visit Coixa Forum where you can find some nice expositions in on architectonicol impressive building and the Thyssen museum with a huge collection of paintings from all times. To build a network of friends I recommend you to take the language course and try to go with a lot of different groups of people (friends of roommates, people you know from the hostel you started etc.). In the end you will find the people suiting you the most.

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Travelling

To go to University I used the public transport network which was quite convenient. The University is reachable by metro and bus, of which both were going every 10 min at least and it took me about half on hour (door to door) to get there. You con get a public transport pass for 35 euro a month if you are under 23 years old, otherwise you have to pay 55,-. You can apply for a cord by going to some of the big metro stations or some of the tobacco stores in town. It is possible to get them without appointment but you hove to wait a long time so if you plan to do this I con recommend to go to a tobacco store a bit out of the centre where lines are not as long as in the centre. You can make on appointment on this website. https://www.tarjetatransportepublico.es/CRTM-ABGNOS/entrado.aspx

In the end of my stay I did some traveling (highly recommended) around Spain using busses, Blablacar or renting cars. Bloblocar is a sort of carpooling website where you can find cheap rides which I can recommend because you meet some local people who can turn out to be nice guides for your next stop.

Other

In the current situation in Spain it is nearly impossible to get a job as an architect even for the Spanish graduate so I guess that it will be very difficult to get a job here in the future. Nevertheless I think there are a lot of challenges in Spain which interests me and the 5 months I hove been there hove broaden me as on architect. The way to design a building from its experience and the unusual design challenges I faced gave me a bigger pallet for future projects. It is nearly impossible to write just this report about my stay let alone capture it in one sentence but if there is something general to say it will be it was a fun, educative, interesting, worth the obstacles journey and if you ore thinking about going abroad all I can say just do it. It will be a memorable experience where you will meet so many people from different cultures and everything has its story which con teach you something so just go!

One of my favorite buildings, not for its content but for its architecture: the bullfighting stadium