As part of the Barcelona International Youth Science Challenge (BIYSC), a residential international science program organized by the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera for young people from around the world who are passionate about science and technology and held from July 7 to 18, researchers from La Salle Campus Barcelona, a founding member of Universitat Ramon Llull, are coordinating and leading the workshop Engineering Gaudí: Inhabiting sound, light and space (From Lab to La Pedrera).
The Engineering Gaudí project makes use of the cutting-edge technological infrastructure at the Interactive Arts & Science Laboratory (IASlab), La Salle Campus Barcelona’s pioneering lab in Europe for transdisciplinary research and artistic creation, to explore architectural comfort in the works of Antoni Gaudí. Equipped with laboratories such as the anechoic chamber, the reverberation chamber, and the immersive room, the IASlab provides a holistic and integrated approach that combines sound and image to analyze and recreate Gaudí-designed spaces. This laboratory not only enables detailed analysis under controlled conditions, but also transforms findings into immersive and interactive experiences.
On the one hand, the anechoic and reverberation chambers allow exploration of spatial acoustics in extreme conditions. On the other, in the immersive room, acoustic comfort is combined with natural light-based architectural recreations, creating a multisensory representation of the spaces. At the same time, the Design Studio in the Sant Josep building on campus focuses on Gaudí’s pioneering vision of architectural comfort: spaces designed to achieve harmony between people and their environment, with special attention to the efficiency of sound, light, and temperature. “Projects like this connect us with young people interested in science and technology and with the history of Barcelona, as represented through Gaudí’s work. They are also a demonstration of our campus’s transdisciplinary model, where different knowledge areas and disciplines work together to enrich research and generate real impact locally and internationally,” states Rosa Ma. Alsina, Director of Research and Innovation at La Salle-URL.
Throughout the project, data has been collected on-site at La Pedrera, allowing students and researchers to validate the research hypothesis using the IASlab facilities. The project, which brings together technology, science, and architecture to offer an innovative reinterpretation of Gaudí’s legacy, is coordinated by Rosa Ma. Alsina, Director of Research and Innovation, and Josep Ferrando, Director of the La Salle-URL School of Architecture; and includes the participation of La Salle-URL researchers Marc Arnela, Marc Freixes, Marta Bugés, and Ricardo Devesa.
