About us

The Department of Architectural Representation teaches in three schools: the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB), the Barcelona School of Building Construction (EPSEB), situades en el campus Sud a Barcelona, located on the campus south of Barcelona, and the Vallès School of Architecture (ETSAV), which is headquartered in Sant Cugat del Valles, 45 minutes from Barcelona.

The Department of Architectural Representation was created in 2017 from the former chairs of Architectural Graphic Expression I and Architectural Graphic Expression II.

The University Senate of UPC, gathered in ordinary session the December 16th, 2014, agreed to initiate a reorganisation process of the University Departments. The graphic expression field was one to be affected to the extent that the reform has as an objective, to strengthen the academic unities respecting the big fields of knowledge that are currently present in our teching. As a result of the development of this idea, it was proposed to join the two departments of Architectural Graphic Expression 1 and 2 (EGA1 and EGA2) to build a new department of Architectural Representation (RA).

Currently, it is organised in 3 sections: ETSAB Section, ETSAV Section and EPSEB Section.

The Department organises its research in the UPC research group "Architectural: Representation and Modelling" (AR&M), structured in two lines of research, the generic one and the specific one:

The generic, "The expression of the architectural project. Analysis and evolution "(EDPA), focuses on the expression of the contemporary architecture and design, the control of its display and presentation in relation to the conceptual framework -content and process- using traditional techniques and computing resources, and the evolution of architectural representation throughout history, through theoretical analysis and graphics.
The specific, "Modelling and Visual Simulation in Architecture" (MSVA), focuses on applications in architecture and design of all types of computing resources for modeling, multimedia simulation, virtual reality and animation, as well as surveys based on architectural photogrammetry and laser scanner.

These two lines of research are related to the Doctoral Degree in Architectural, Civil and Urban Heritage and Refurbishment of Existing Buildings.

Among other activities, the Department of Architectural Representation:

participates in the Virtual City Modeling Lab of ETSAB.
collaborates with the Department of Architectural Technology and the Centre for Land Valuation Policy of ETSAB.
is part of the Centre for Computer Applications in the Architectural and Urban Design (CAIRAT) of ETSAV.
co-edits the scientific journal Revista EGA, an international forum for debate on architectural representation and visual analysis - currently indexed in ISI (Arts & Humanities Citation Index), Avery, RIBA y Urbadoc (Urbaterr)-.
organizes an International Conference on Architectural Representation and Visual Analysis (Congreso Internacional Expresión Gráfica Arquitectònica), together with other spanish university departments of architectural representation and visual analysis.
participates in the Workshop of Architectonic Heritage. D2-R-T of EPSEB.
collaborates with the Documentary of the Architectonic Heritage of Catalonia + Gaudi Workshop. D2-R-T (HEAC) of EPSEB.

Its governing bodies are the Department Council and the Department Advisory Comission, which nature, composition and functions are defined in the Organizational and Operational Regulations of the Department. The Council is the plenary assembly of the entire department and meets at least, two times of each academic year. The Department Advisory Comission is an advisory and purposeful body responsible for advise the head of department about the department function.