Advanced Architecture Barcelona

The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia is a Center of Education, Research, and Innovation that envisions, designs, and prototypes the future—from Barcelona to the world

We bridge education and research to bring radical experiments into real-world applications, transforming ideas into material systems, building products, and urban technologies. Guided by a vision of a built environment  in harmony with nature, IAAC’s initiatives contribute to  a growing ecosystem of innovation, spanning advanced prototyping, product development, executive training, and sponsored research.

The values that drive us

We are
Advanced

We design with and through new technologies

We are
Radical

We seek to rethink traditional design practices

We are
Transversal

We work trans-scalarly and trans-disciplinarily

We are
Responsive

We adapt quickly to a rapidly-changing world

We are
Regenerative

We tackle challenges with an ecological mindset.

What We Do

Education

IAAC provides an educational experience that empowers aspiring architects and innovators to envisage and build the future. View More

Research

IAAC’s research sits at the crossroads of technology and society, driven by EU-funded projects and collaborations with key public and private partners. View More

Development

A network committed to solving some of the world’s most critical challenges, coming together with a shared vision to create meaningful solutions through prototype-driven solutions. View More

Research Labs

IAAC is structured into four key Research Labs, each advancing architecture and urbanism through interdisciplinary collaboration. These Labs collaborate with cities, industrial groups, and research centres worldwide, including the City Council of Barcelona, MIT, CITA, Sci-Arc, and leading companies such as CISCO and Endesa. Together, we develop innovative research programmes that bring together expertise from architecture, engineering, biology, and beyond.

Advanced Architecture Lab

The AAG pioneers applied research in architecture and cities by developing novel, decarbonising, and inclusive solutions that emerge at the intersection of creative design and digital technologies

Fab Lab Barcelona

A think and make laboratory enabling communities globally to harness design and technology for collective transformation.

Valldaura Labs

Valldaura Labs is a leading research facility dedicated to exploring the future of self-sufficient habitats.

Robotics Lab

The Robotics Lab believes in a future where humans and robots work together to build cities in symbiosis with our environment.

Facilities

City Campus

Located at Carrer Pujades 102 in Barcelona’s 22@ innovation district, the City Campus is IAAC’s main academic hub. The building houses studios, classes, workshops and Fab Lab Barcelona, the first and largest digital fabrication lab in the EU, affiliated with MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms.

The campus spans over 2,000 m² of working space equipped with robotic fabrication, CNC milling, laser cutting, 3D printing facilities and more. Having this infrastructure within the campus gives students direct access to tools and processes that are central to the IAAC learning experience, from early-stage experimentation to full-scale prototype.

Forest Campus

Set within 130 hectares of Collserola Natural Park, 30 minutes from Barcelona, Valldaura is a residential research campus dedicated to ecological design and advanced construction.

The campus includes on-site accommodation, food production systems and the Green Fab Lab, a digital fabrication facility surrounded by working forest. Timber and other natural resources from the site are integrated directly into the construction and research processes carried out here, making the landscape itself part of the academic programme.

Press

IAAC press kits are media resources available for news purposes only. To use images and videos for advertising or other purposes in publications, approval must be requested by contacting our office at [email protected].