SPB25 MSTE Workshop on architecture

Inside La Pedrera, students take part in an interactive workshop where different architectural models and surfaces inspired by Gaudí’s work are projected, explored, and discussed in small groups. Using imagination, creativity, and careful observation, participants analyze how Gaudí integrated geometry, curves, and natural forms into his designs. Step by step, they discover how elements such as arches, twisted columns, and organic shapes are linked to mathematical ideas. The session helps students recognize and apply mathematical and geometric concepts—such as symmetry, curvature, and proportion—to real architectural structures, building a clear bridge between art, science, and everyday life.

After this first part of the activity, students start to design their own urban project. They must use one of three regulated surfaces in their project: a hyperboloid, a helicoid, or a hyperbolic paraboloid. Their project will be presented in a public competition, organized by the city council, to rehabilitate a public, communitarian, and pedestrian space. The council follows very strict criteria and will require students to respect a series of precise guidelines in order to be considered for the final selection. This gives the activity a realistic context and encourages students to think like young architects and urban planners.

Students must base their project on a concrete and well-defined idea that brings something useful and specific to the members of their community—for example, a meeting area, a shaded playground, or a relaxing green space. They must include, in at least one part of the project, one of the regulated surfaces mentioned above and explain why they chose it. They also have to work only with the materials available to them, which helps them develop problem-solving skills and creativity. In this way, the activity combines natural architecture, mathematical thinking, and civic responsibility in a motivating and meaningful learning experience.

Students enjoyed the workshop and learned new information, enriched their knowledge and vocabulary. Students gain a deeper understanding of how mathematics and art coexist in architecture. They strengthen their spatial reasoning, problem-solving, and artistic awareness, while discovering Gaudí’s innovative vision. The workshop inspires curiosity, creativity, interdisciplinary learning — perfectly reflecting the Erasmus+ spirit - innovation and discovery. The explanations given at the end of the workshop were very interesting and made it easier to understand the creation