IAAC Alumni Dialogues: Four Alumni Ambassadors on the Careers IAAC Shaped

Ingrid Noronha Vaz (Master in Advanced Architecture, 2023), a Brazilian architect, is Head of Design and Digital Fabrication at a timber fabrication company in Miami and works remotely with an international team.

Joaquín Rosas Sotomayor (Master in Design for Emergent Futures, 2022), a Chilean designer, teaches at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Santiago and co-founded the distributed design collective Moving Works with his classmates from the master.

Aymeric Brouez (Master in Advanced Computational Design for Architecture, 2025), a French architect, followed this online master while working and is now part of Snøhetta’s Paris studio and its research group on artificial intelligence.

Shruti Sahasrabudhe (Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings & Biocities, 2024, today Master in Ecological Architecture & Advanced Construction), an Indian architect, spent her first year at IAAC’s Valldaura Campus and is now a PhD researcher at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.

Every speaker described IAAC as a place where knowledge comes from making. Aymeric started his master with no knowledge of Python and today codes tools for Snøhetta. Ingrid arrived using Revit and left with Rhino as her main design tool. “The most fundamental thing you learn at IAAC is how to learn,” said Alex Mademochoritis.

For Joaquín, working with classmates from all over the world was the most revealing part of the master. “You are pushed to work together, to share your backgrounds, to share your knowledge. And finally you become like a tiny family,” he said. At Valldaura, Shruti lived and worked with around 20 classmates, and collaboration extended to daily life: “It was not just problem solving while designing, but problem solving on every stage of living.”

Joaquín and his classmates founded Moving Works before graduating. Ingrid found her closest collaborator through the IAAC community when her workload in Miami outgrew her. Graduates of the online Master in Advanced Computational Design for Architecture still meet at conferences in London, Paris, Barcelona and Amsterdam. “Even though it’s an online program, you can connect with people who become your friends,” said Aymeric Brouez.

Ingrid now works between Europe, Turkey, Miami, Guatemala and Brazil. “The value of IAAC stays with you longer than the program ends,” she said.

• Portfolio: keep it short, legible and to the point, select the projects closest to the programme you are applying to and make your role in each project clear. Alex suggests leaving something to discuss in the interview.
• Statement of purpose: Shruti advises writing it in an honest, personal way about the topics that motivate you.
• Software skills: the online Master in Advanced Computational Design for Architecture expects a basic knowledge of Grasshopper before the start, and Python is taught from the first term. In on-campus programmes such as the Master in Advanced Architecture, students are trained in Rhino and Grasshopper during the year. Aymeric’s cohort included a journalist, an HVAC engineer and a physicist.
• Career changers and families: Ingrid studied with classmates who moved to Barcelona with their partners and children.
• One year or two: the Master in Advanced Architecture, the Master in Design for Emergent Futures and the Master in Ecological Architecture & Advanced Construction are offered in one-year and two-year formats. Ingrid recommends the second year to those who can take it, to go deeper into the line of work discovered in the first.
• Scholarships: IAAC awards partial scholarships through a competition open to applicants. Andrés Ardila, IAAC Admissions Manager, is the contact for applications and scholarships.

The alumni lived in different parts of the city. Ingrid chose Poblenou, a quiet neighbourhood by the beach, ten minutes on foot from IAAC. Joaquín preferred Gràcia, with its squares and jazz bars, close to Collserola Park and Tibidabo. Shruti lived at the Valldaura Campus in Collserola Park during her first year and near Plaça d’Espanya in her second. All agreed that any neighbourhood is within 30 to 40 minutes of IAAC.

Alex Mademochoritis

Alex coordinated IAAC’s Master in City & Technology from 2017 to 2022 and served as IAAC’s Admissions Manager in 2022-23. Since 2023 he has led IAAC’s Alumni Relations while pursuing a PhD in Urban and Spatial Planning at Université Gustave Eiffel in Paris.

Ingrid Noronha Vaz

Ingrid is an architect and designer specialised in digital fabrication and advanced wood design. She is Head of Design and Digital Fabrication at a timber fabrication company in Miami and leads Innovaa, her independent interior and architecture practice.

Joaquín Rosas Sotomayor

Joaquín is a designer working in digital fabrication, robotics, biofabrication and circular economy. He teaches at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (Design Lab UAI) and is the co-founder of Moving Works, a distributed design collective for high-impact social projects.

Aymeric Brouez

Aymeric is an architect and computational designer whose path spans France, China and Spain. He holds a dual master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from ENSA Versailles and Tongji University’s CAUP and works at Snøhetta’s Paris studio.

Shruti Sahasrabudhe

Shruti is an architect and ecological designer exploring ecology, circularity and context-specific design. She is a PhD researcher at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.