The Iberian Summer School took place from July 7 to 20, 2025, in the White Villages region, between the provinces of Cádiz and Málaga, with Ronda as its main location.
The program was organized, thanks to Richard H. Driehaus, by the Traditional Building Cultures Foundation, with the support of INTBAU Spain, INTBAU Portugal, the Municipality of Ronda, and Kalam. Several scholarships were granted by the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation, the Fundação Serra Henriques, the Fundación Arquia, Robert Adam, and ‘HEURE BLEUE’ Architecture. The Summer School also benefited from the collaboration of the schools of architecture of the University of Notre Dame, the University of Miami, the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, the Universidad de Málaga, the Universidade Portucalense (UPT), the Universidad del País Vasco, and the Centro de Investigación de Arquitectura Tradicional (CIAT).
– The place –
The Summer School was held in the White Villages region, between the provinces of Cádiz and Málaga, with Ronda as its main venue.
Ronda is one of the most remarkable sites in Andalusia, known for its location atop a deep gorge and for its rich architectural and historical heritage. Its old town preserves a longstanding building tradition, with notable architectural examples that reflect the legacy of various civilizations. Moreover, the relationship between the natural landscape and the urban form gives Ronda a particularly harmonious character, with landmarks such as the Puente Nuevo, the Islamic city walls, and numerous public spaces of strong local identity.
While the group was based in Ronda, where most of the program took place, other nearby locations such as Grazalema and Zahara de la Sierra were also visited, studied, and drawn.
– The Work Process –
The program focused on the study of traditional urbanism, architecture, and construction details of the region, primarily through hand drawing. The aim was to familiarize participants with the character and qualities of the local architecture. Experts in vernacular architecture, landscape, and traditional building techniques delivered lectures and led workshops on various related topics. During the first week, several excursions were organized throughout the region, allowing participants to analyze and draw representative examples of local architecture in different settings. In the second week, building on the work previously carried out, students worked in groups on an urban design proposal for Ronda. The process also involved local residents and members of the municipal team, in order to ensure the proposal responded to real needs.
– The Proposal –
Building on the prior work of documentation and analysis, and taking into account the input provided by the municipal team and local residents, the participants of the Summer School collectively developed a proposal for the improvement of Ronda’s urban environment. The project addressed the relationship between the historic city and the surrounding landscape, and included the rehabilitation of key public spaces, as well as targeted interventions in the residential fabric and certain public facilities, such as the bus station. The proposals combined urban-scale actions with strategies focused on traditional domestic architecture, aiming to strengthen the continuity between the built form, spatial use, and local identity.
– Results and Exhibition –
Both the initial documentation work and the final design proposal were publicly presented at the end of the Summer School in the Convento de Santo Domingo, in Ronda. Among those attending the exhibition were the Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Urban Planning, along with various representatives from the local community. The event concluded with an informal gathering that brought together participants, faculty members, and guests, marking the close of two weeks of intense work and international collaboration.
– Other Activities –
Workshops on Traditional Building Trades
Several master builders specialized in traditional construction led workshops during the Summer School. Master carpenter Miguel Ángel Balmaseda, from Écija, gave a hands-on introduction to traditional carpentry; limework master Ricardo Alderete, together with technical architect Jesús Palenzuela, conducted a practical session on traditional lime and plaster techniques; and finally, master mason Carlos Postigo offered a demonstration of masonry techniques characteristic of the Ronda region.
Lectures
In addition to the fieldwork, lectures were held each afternoon, delivered by experts in urbanism, architectural history, anthropology, landscape, construction, and traditional architecture. The sessions took place at the Mondragón Palace, one of Ronda’s most iconic historic buildings.
Drawing Courses and Workshops
Several participants of the Summer School led workshops on drawing, watercolor, and other pictorial techniques.
– The Organizing Team, the Faculty, and the Participants –
The faculty and organizing team was composed of Alejandro García Hermida (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid | Traditional Building Cultures Foundation | INTBAU Spain), Guillermo Gil Fernández (Traditional Building Cultures Foundation | INTBAU Spain), Rebeca Gómez-Gordo Villa (Traditional Building Cultures Foundation | INTBAU Spain), Larisa Hatis (Universitatea de Arhitectură și Urbanism Ion Mincu), Aritz Díez Oronoz (University of the Basque Country), Imanol Iparraguirre Barbero (University of the Basque Country), Frank Martínez (University of Miami), Lucien Steil (University of Notre Dame), and Carolina Cabra (Traditional Building Cultures Foundation | INTBAU Spain).
The guest lecturers included Robert Adam (architect), Fernando Álvarez (municipal technical architect of Ronda), Pablo Álvarez Funes (INTBAU Spain), Álvaro Amaya (University of Málaga), José Baganha (Traditional Building Cultures Foundation | INTBAU Portugal), Fernando Cerqueira Barros (Centro de Estudos de Arquitectura e Urbanismo, Faculty of Architecture, University of Porto | INTBAU Portugal), M.ª Pilar Delgado Blasco (former municipal archaeologist of Ronda), Pablo Farfán (architect), Juan Carlos García de los Reyes (architect), Silvia Grünig Iribarren (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya | Center for Research in Peasant Agroecology and Territory), Jesús Palenzuela Illán (technical architect), José Manuel López Osorio (University of Málaga), Rafael Manzano Martos (architect), Javier Navarro Mateos (Richard H. Driehaus Architecture Competition awardee), José Luis Pérez (architect), Sebastián Pérez (master mason), Bruno Perenha (INTBAU Brazil), Raúl Arroyo Morejón (municipal architect of Ronda), Guillermo Soria Alonso (Richard H. Driehaus Architecture Competition awardee), Sergio Valadez (architect), and Carlos Vallecillos Moya (Richard H. Driehaus Architecture Competition awardee).
And the participants were Sohaib Ahmed Javed (Pakistan), Mada Aldeeb (Australia), Emilia Avendaño Granados (Mexico), Nikolai Brummer (Finland), Joana Cardoso Peixeiro de Freitas (Portugal), Ricardo Castellano Anderson (Spain), Lucía Chamorro Carrasco (Spain), Shariq Che Ramsubhag (Trinidad and Tobago), Paola Lizette Cruz Garay (Mexico), Maria Rosa Da Costa Marques (Portugal), Vlad Damian Mocanu (Romania), Jon Eguizurain Trejo (Spain), Alejandro Fahrenbach (Spain), Anastasia Frawley (United States), Zainab Himeur (Morocco), Devlin Hose (United States), Yining Jin (Australia), Andreas Bruno Mendes (Portugal), Alexandra-Ioana Milu (Romania), William Mulvihill Duque (Spain), Mackenzie Pittman (United States), Saira Rana (Pakistan), Juan Requena Aragón (Spain), Carolyn Simmons (United States), Pietra Viola Siquieroli (Brazil), Daniel Skinner (Australia), Mariia Solovei (Ukraine), Alexandra Turac (Austria), Khostsetseg Tumurbat (Mongolia), Santiago Urrutia Campomanes (Spain), Rabianur Yılmaz (Turkey), and Rimsha Zubair (India).
The audiovisual content was produced by Ganna Ostapenko.
