From IAAC to BIG: João Albuquerque at the IAAC Lecture Series 2025/26

Titled From IAAC to BIG: A Career Built on Advanced Architecture, the lecture brought together students, alumni and invited guests for an honest and wide-ranging conversation about professional trajectory, creative decision-making and what advanced architecture makes possible.

João Albuquerque traced the professional path that took him from his Master in Advanced Architecture at IAAC — whose thesis project was exhibited at the 2011 Beijing Architecture Biennale — to joining BIG Copenhagen in 2008, establishing BIG’s Barcelona office in 2019 and becoming Partner in 2021. A trajectory built on computational thinking, design rigour and the conviction that architecture can challenge and transform how we inhabit cities.

Through projects across Spain, Portugal, the Mediterranean and South America, his work at BIG explores how architecture can push typological boundaries while remaining grounded in sustainability and real impact.

More than a career retrospective, the lecture was a candid reflection on what it means to navigate an international practice from within — the decisions, the doubts and the clarity that comes from staying close to what architecture can actually do. Told by someone who started in this building.

João Albuquerque is Partner at BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, where he leads the Barcelona office. He holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Coimbra and a Master in Advanced Architecture from IAAC. His work has been exhibited at the Beijing Architecture Biennale and the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona.