These schools have been held annually since 2014 at various Spanish and Portuguese locations (Madrid, Barcelona, the Azores, Cantabria, Navarra, the Alentejo, Seville, etc.). They always revolve around design based on a knowledge and understanding of the local building, architectural and urban design tradition. Hand-drawing, in-situ analysis of the best regional precedents, talks by various expert guests and demonstrations by local master builders serve as a basis for the preparation of new urban and architectural designs taking local tradition as a reference. With an international teaching team, the aim is to introduce the participants, largely young architects and architecture students from the world over, to design methods attuned to creating beautiful and lasting ensembles, better integrated into their existing context and able to leverage and feed back into local building culture.
Since 2017, the Construction Arts Scholarships have been facilitating the training of apprentices alongside outstanding masters in different traditional construction trades. The knowledge transmitted by this means, through working and learning hands on with a master of the trade, can scarcely be given continuity through formal education. These scholarships provide financial support both to the master delivering the training and to the apprentice who is to be trained at the former’s workshop and worksites.
These workshops are intended to cultivate a knowledge and appreciation of traditional building techniques and to let the general public see the work of the best master artisans that preserve and apply them today. The participants, guided by masters of various traditional building trades, have the chance to experience hands on the work of masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, ceramicists, plasterers and many others.
We announce the results of the 2026 Building Arts Grants call, aimed at providing practical training for apprentices under the guidance of highly regarded masters of traditional building. This initiative
David de la Mano has been selected by the Traditional Building Cultures Foundation and INTBAU Spain as master craftsperson of the month for April 2026. David de la Mano is
The videos of all the lectures delivered at the 1st International Conference on 20th-Century Classical Architecture, held at the School of Architecture of the Polytechnic University of Madrid from February
