Patricia Guaita is an architect, researcher, and educator whose work explores drawing as an action and the development of socially and environmentally responsible approaches to architectural design and construction. Her research investigates design methodologies that integrate hand drawing, 1:1 fabrication, spatial and tectonic analysis, and the development of construction protocols. Working through experimental construction sites and research platforms, she brings together educators, scientists, practitioners, and students, integrating research, teaching, and construction to explore alternative forms of knowledge production and sustainable building practices.

A central dimension of her work is the relationship between academic research and practice. She develops interdisciplinary and international collaborations that facilitate knowledge exchange across different cultural and material contexts, particularly in Latin America and the Global South. Her research also explores educational formats based on immersive fieldwork, collective making, and interdisciplinary practice. Through collaborations with universities, NGOs, practitioners, and industrial partners, she seeks to connect architectural education and research with concrete construction processes and real-world contexts.

She studied architecture at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (ETSAM) and the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (IUAV). She received her PhD from CEU University in Madrid with a thesis entitled Action and Experience in Architecture: Materiality and Embodiment in the Education of the Technological Era.

Currently, she is a Lecturer and Researcher at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where she serves as Head of Techne within the ALICE laboratory. Her research and teaching develop a pedagogy of making through experimental project collaborations that connect drawing, design, material research, and construction. These include the Open City Research Platform (2013–2019), developed in collaboration with ENAC EPFL , the ETHZ Zurich and EAD PUCV at the Open City in Valparaíso, Chile; the interdisciplinary research project TRC Prototype Pavilion with LC3  initiated in 2019 in collaboration with FAUFBA in Salvador da Bahia, in collaboration with the LMC laboratory at EPFL . The TRC-LC3 research combines architectural and structural design, material science, and 1:1 construction to investigate Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC) and Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) as alternative and more sustainable construction systems, with particular attention to their potential applications in the Global South.

The work has been recognised and presented internationally. In 2022, her research project Construction Cycles: Analysis – Reiteration – Innovation, developed with architect Raffael Baur at JMA HEIA Fribourg,  was presented at the 6th Lisbon Architecture Triennale.  In 2025, her ongoing TRC-LC3 research was selected for exhibition at the 14th International Architecture Biennale of São Paulo – EXTREMOS, under the theme For an Overheated Planet. 

Since 2023, she has also developed the Drawing Research Platform in Somerset and London in collaboration with Drawing Matter org. This research extends her investigation of drawing as an active instrument of architectural inquiry, connecting observation, memory, embodied knowledge, and design processes. Her most recent publication, Notes on the Architectural Sketchbook: Body, Memory and Life (2026), further develops this research by examining the sketchbook as a site where body, memory, observation, and imagination intersect within architectural practice and education.

Her publications include Building Cultures Valparaíso: Pedagogy, Practice and Poetry at the Valparaíso School of Architecture and Design (Routledge, 2015); Notes on Learning Through Building in the Open City: Body, Craft, and Materiality (2021); A Prototype Pavilion in Textile Reinforced Concrete: A Tool for Research and Pedagogy (2021); Construction Cycles: Towards a New Ecology of Construction (2022); El Pórtico de los Huéspedes: Exploring Other Ways of Building at the Open City in Valparaíso, Chile (2022); and Notes on the Architectural Sketchbook: Body, Memory and Life (2026).

From 2020 to 2022, she was Invited Professor at JMA HEIA Fribourg, where she co-led the Master's design studio Construction Cycles: Analysis – Reiteration – Innovation with architect Raffael Baur. Alongside her academic work at EPFL, she maintains a professional architectural practice and participates in international reviews, discussions, conferences, and research collaborations.

Her work positions architecture as a field of research in which drawing by hand, making, building, and teaching are interconnected forms of inquiry. Through this approach, she develops collaborative and situated methods that connect architectural education and research with material experimentation, construction practice, and broader social and environmental questions.

In these recent years, my research has been twofold: advancing sustainable construction solutions, (particularly Textile Reinforced Concrete), and exploring embodied cognition in architectural teaching and learning.

The first research line explores innovative construction techniques by examining social, spatial, and constructive practices. This interdisciplinary initiative integrates academia, research, and practical application in architecture and construction, aiming to address global demands for secure, resilient, and sustainable constructions. 
 Activities include research on sustainable concrete construction systems designing and testing 1:1 TRC prototypes, and engagement with various research funds programs such as EPFL Seed Money and ENAC Exploratory Grant. Knowledge exchange initiatives involve partnerships with the University of Salvador de Bahia in Brazil, Swissnex Brazil and the ONG

Sofonias Group. 

The second area of research focuses on the exploration of a pedagogy of making, investigating the creative processes and design actions involved in the conception and construction of space. Thanks to the creation and

direction of the Open City Research Platform, this educational approach has been rigorously tested and refined through experimental new projects and collaborations with a multiplicity of experts and students. It aims to question the value of embodied knowledge, tacit learning, and the impact of hands-on activities on learning and environmental interaction.

Consolidation Grant 2022, Universität St.Gallen (HSG) Centro Latinoamericano-Suizo, (CLS-HSG), Leading House for the Latin American Region.

Swiss PI

Dr. Patricia Guaita, architect and lecturer, ENAC IA ALICE, EPFL, Switzerland

Latin American PI: Dr. Sergio Ekerman, architect and Professor, FAUFBA, Brazil

Seed Money Grant 2020, Universität St.Gallen (HSG) Centro Latinoamericano-Suizo (CLS-HSG), Leading House for the Latin American Region.

Co-PI applicants

Miguel Fernández Ruiz, Senior Scientist, ENAC IIC IBETON

Patricia Guaita, scientist and lecturer, ENAC IA ALICE

Prof. Sergio Kopinski Ekerman, FAUFBA Salvador de Bahia