The presentation of IRIA-UPC was led by UPC rector Daniel Crespo, who delivered the welcome speech, and by professor and architect Alberto Peñín, the director of the new institute. Peñín outlined the objectives and research directions of the institute, and its role in promoting interdisciplinary knowledge and its application to contemporary territorial and societal challenges.

The event took place in an outdoor pavilion specially installed for the occasion between the buildings of the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB) and the Barcelona School of Building Construction (EPSEB). This temporary structure, accessible from Avinguda Diagonal and inspired by scaffolding, hosts an exhibition [CV1] explaining IRIA-UPC and served as the venue for the institute’s first activity: the ninth edition of the Forum University, Architecture, Industry, Engineering, Society and Business, organised at the ETSAB from 31 March to 4 April.

Alberto Peñín stated that “a total of 83 researchers from 18 different research groups—bringing together the country’s leading architects, urban planners and technical architects—will work collaboratively on competitive projects at European, national, regional, metropolitan and local levels. They will also collaborate with companies and institutions through agreements, such as the ‘Hacer es pensar’ project, funded by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT). This initiative brings together thinkers, urban planners, architects and professionals from related disciplines from around the world this week[CA3]  to reflect on technology as a form of material culture. We are at a moment that calls for collective efforts and the seizing of exceptional opportunities, such as Barcelona’s designation as the European Capital of Architecture in 2026.”

The director of IRIA-UPC explained: “In 1888, Joan Torras—a professor and director of the School of Architecture in the early 20th century, who was also an architect and industrialist—built scaffolding in preparation for the Universal Exposition. Today, we present scaffolding that opens up to the city: a temporary pavilion symbolising the construction of a new institution, IRIA, which is open to institutions, industry and society.”

Three schools and around twenty research groups
IRIA-UPC brings together the activities of several academic and research units of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) related to architecture, urban planning and building. In total, it encompasses around 4,600 people, structured into some twenty research groups and three schools—the ETSAB, the EPSEB and the Vallès School of Architecture (ETSAV)—with links to 10 enterprise chairs, 8 master’s degrees and 6 doctoral programmes.

The new institute is committed to knowledge transfer and aims to serve society through institutions, industry and the social fabric to address major challenges, including urban regeneration, industrialisation and technological innovation, with a strong focus on sustainability. It is oriented towards social and urban regeneration, technological innovation, environmental sustainability and critical reflection. The institute will share these guiding principles from an international and interdisciplinary perspective, maintaining a close link with the profession and contributing to education.

IRIA-UPC’s research directions include architecture and sustainability; urban planning, public space, and community; architectural and urban heritage; structural and construction techniques and technologies; theory and history of architecture; and habitability. It will also conduct research on regional planning and landscape, representation and communication, design, urban planning and management, legal architecture, innovation in materials, and execution and construction work.

The establishment of IRIA coincides with the lead-up to the 150th anniversary of the ETSAB and Barcelona’s designation as the World Capital of Architecture in 2026, an event in which the architects, urban planners and technical architects of the new UPC research institute will actively participate.

“The institute aims not only to connect and showcase the UPC’s research units and their activities in architecture, urban planning and building, but also to scale up these activities, equipping us with better tools to tackle society’s challenges,” stated professor Peñín, director of IRIA. “The housing and environmental crises are already emergencies and require reflections and proposals that we have grouped into a dozen research directions, covering areas such as urban regeneration, typological research, and the industrialisation and digitalisation of the sector.”

According to Jordi Ros, the UPC’s vice-rector for Architecture, Infrastructure and Regional Outreach, “one of IRIA’s founding objectives is to redefine the scope of research in architecture, as well as to channel knowledge transfer towards society.”

Under the motto Hacer es pensar (“Doing is thinking”), the university-industry forum supported by FECYT has brought together representatives from the fields of art, architecture, engineering, craftwork and business for a week of discussions on the interrelationship between making and thinking.