The USL redefines the potential of design in an era marked by rapid urban expansion, the global climate emergency, and technological acceleration.
The Urban Sciences Lab is a platform dedicated to critical thinking and transformative design, integrating social, cultural, technological, and ecological dimensions of contemporary urbanisation.
From individuals and buildings to communities and planetary geographies, the USL investigates spatial, human, ecological, and technological boundaries. This interdisciplinary approach challenges conventional thinking and proposes innovative projects and scenarios, acting today to shape the urban world of tomorrow.
By employing an iterative and evidence-based methodology to design and research the urban sphere, the USL positions itself at the intersection of quantitative and qualitative approaches, integrating cutting-edge academic research with innovative practice.
Leveraging urban and territorial computation and innovative design for climate vulnerable ecological systems, towards healthy and more-than-human urban and peri-urban environments.
Developing innovative urban design methodologies, practices and policies for socially just, gender and intersectionality inclusive cities and spaces, while bridging the data gap to enable evidence-based equitable and inclusive urban development.
Implementing urban analytics, from data collection to its cleaning, transformation, analysis and visualisation enabling informed decision-making in the development of innovative infrastructure, affordable housing strategies and mobility justice in spatialising the urban form.
Capacity building and applications of city sciences to develop critical and creative visions towards cutting-edge, innovative and spatially just urban transformations and digital innovation in developing urban environments.
Mathilde Marengo is an Australian–French–Italian PhD Architect whose research focuses on contemporary urban phenomena, its integration with technology, and its implications for the future of the planet. In today’s critical environmental, social, and economic context, she explores how designers can address these challenges through circular and metabolic design.
She is the Urban Sciences Lab Director, Head of Studies, Co-director of the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics (formerly City & Technology), and a PhD Supervisor at IAAC. In this setting, she designs and tests innovative educational formats, promoting holistic, multi-disciplinary design approaches that emphasise materialisation and reframe design education in the Information Age.
Her work extends to National and EU-funded research projects, including URBiNAT, InnoChain ETN, and BUILD Solutions. Mathilde’s work has been published and exhibited internationally.
Mathilde Marengo is an Australian–French–Italian PhD Architect whose research focuses on contemporary urban phenomena, its integration with technology, and its implications for the future of the planet. In today’s critical environmental, social, and economic context, she explores how designers can address these challenges through circular and metabolic design.
She is the Urban Sciences Lab Director, Head of Studies, Co-director of the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics (formerly City & Technology), and a PhD Supervisor at IAAC. In this setting, she designs and tests innovative educational formats, promoting holistic, multi-disciplinary design approaches that emphasise materialisation and reframe design education in the Information Age.
Her work extends to National and EU-funded research projects, including URBiNAT, InnoChain ETN, and BUILD Solutions. Mathilde’s work has been published and exhibited internationally.
Laura Guimarães is a Brazilian architect and urbanist with a Master’s Degree in City & Technology from IAAC. She currently serves as the Urban Science Lab Manager at IAAC.
Before moving to Barcelona, Laura worked as an urban planner in Brazil, first in a city government entity overseeing mobility projects, and later as an Urban Planner and Project Coordinator at one of the country’s leading urban design firms. Her expertise in masterplans and large-scale projects is complemented by her master’s studies, which explore the intersection of urbanism and data science.
Laura’s research focuses on integrating data-driven and human-centred approaches to urban development, using digital analysis and citizen participation to inform decision-making. Her award-winning final graduation project, the Urban Regeneration of Campus 1 in Goiânia, Brazil, earned recognition in the 29th Ópera Prima National Competition for Architecture and Urbanism (2017-2018).
Ana Gallego is an architectural and urban designer, as well as a researcher at IAAC’s Urban Science Lab, focusing on innovative and sustainable projects at various scales. She was recently recognized as one of the 25 emerging researchers in architecture and urbanism by the Learn, Interact, and Networking in Architecture Programme, a European Union initiative.
Her work has been showcased by institutions such as the New European Bauhaus, the Mostra di Architettura di Venezia, MODEL Festival de Arquitecturas, and Barcelona Architecture Week. Ana has also lectured on urban design at various European universities and is currently collaborating with organisations like the Kosovo Foundation of Architecture, the Timisoara Architecture Biennale, and the Haus Der Architektur Research Lab.
Previously, she worked at prominent architectural and urban planning firms, including AMB – Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, Miralles Tagliabue EMBT, Sol89 Arquitectos, and Pargade Architectes.
Maria Isabel da Rocha Lima is a Brazilian architect, urban strategist, and researcher. She is the coordinator of the Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics (formerly City & Technology) and a researcher at the Urban Sciences Lab at IAAC. Isabel holds a Master’s in Urban Management and Development from IHS, Erasmus University of Rotterdam.
She has worked in Portugal and Brazil, specialising in public participation and conducting workshops on urban rehabilitation, capacity building, the right to the city, and sustainable development. Her roles have included moderator, project manager, and researcher. Isabel has also served on the Alumni Board at IHS, representing the organisation at the World Urban Forum (WUF) and moderating a training event on small-scale initiatives.
Her research focuses on urban strategies, participatory planning, governance, and the right to the city.
Iacopo Neri conducts research at the intersection of architecture, computer science, and urban planning. He holds a Master of Science in Architecture with Distinction from the Polytechnic University of Milan and completed the Master in City and Technology (currently Master in Advanced Urban Planning & Data Analytics) at IAAC. During the Responsive Cities Symposium (2017, Barcelona), Iacopo presented a paper on Swarm Intelligence for crowd-based analysis.
Since 2015, he has been a teaching assistant at the University of Florence, the Polytechnic University of Milan, and currently at IAAC, where he is part of the City and Technology computational research team. Iacopo also works as a computational designer at External Reference Architecture Bureau in Barcelona.
Mauro Izarra is a Venezuelan Architect, with a Master’s Degree in “Urbanismo Próximo” from IAAC. He is currently the Urban Sciences Lab Assistant for the Coordination of the Lab’s Master courses.
He teaches at Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela, in the course “Digital Expression” displaying the use of different softwares for architectural and urban design, as well as researching, digitising and displaying works of academic, modern and contemporary Venezuelan Architecture. He has worked on projects that vary on scale, from vast territories, to cities, buildings and interior spaces. His work in cooperation with colleagues has reached finalist places in various international competitions.
Mauro’s research focuses on the representation of architecture through digital virtual space and how its potential is a clue to research the past, present and future of cities. His work is based on a dynamic of human-machine cooperation, as the use of technology, data and analysis can lead to accurate interventions on urban settlements. Mauro’s final project for the Master’s course displays the mass contamination and fragility of communities along the basin of the Lake of Tacarigua in Maracay, Venezuela. With the use of mapping of climate change effects on rivers, the project aims to provide small and manageable interventions that can provide crisis affected sectors with new economies centred on hydrology.
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