The NTNU Architecture Masters Series (2019) represents a pivotal intersection where academic instruction converges with the tenets of Socioplastics, effectively transmuting the architectural field trip into a sophisticated relational intervention. Under the tutelage of Professor Fredrik Lund—an architect and artist of significant Norwegian renown—and the guidance of Anto Lloveras and Paula Lloveras, a cohort from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) was deployed into the urban fabric of Málaga. This programme eschews the reductive nature of purely technical analysis, proposing instead an immersion into the "symbolic layers" of the city, where the act of learning is elevated to a form of situational art. The project culminates in a planning exercise for the port area, treating the public domain as a palimpsesto of history, contemporary flux, and latent potential. The pedagogical ethos of the course mirrors the high-stakes dynamics of international architectural competitions: an intensive, week-long immersion where young architects are tasked with decoding the city’s complex semiotics. From the idiosyncratic traditional neighbourhoods to the sleek modernism of the port, and through excursions to the historical anchors of Córdoba and Granada, the process prioritises tactile observation and spatial intuition. This methodology resonates profoundly with the "States of Vigil" explored in Lloveras’s Urbanas series, wherein architecture is understood not merely as a structural endeavour, but as a cultural ecology that encompasses local gastronomy, museums, and beach life as vital civic programming.
The final intervention at the port of Málaga serves as a synthesis node where the theories of "cross-pollination" are rigorously applied. By operating in situ, the students function as "situational fixers," proposing interventions that respect the fragile environmental context while introducing subversive narratives of utility. This hybrid pedagogy dissolves the traditional hierarchy between professor and pupil, fostering an agonistic dialogue with the territory. The resulting output is not a mere technical blueprint, but a "social sculpture" that seeks to reconcile the industrial scale of the harbour with the intimate, human scale of the city. Integrated within the LAPIEZA platform, this teaching series underscores the importance of intellectual mobility and epistemic exchange between Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. The collaboration with Fredrik Lund—whose own practice fluidly traverses the boundaries between art and architecture—reinforces a commitment to a transdisciplinary vanguard. For Lloveras, pedagogy is an intrinsic component of his "living archive"—a process of intellectual barbecho (fallow) where theoretical constructs are stress-tested against the raw reality of the terrain, ensuring that architecture remains tethered to affection, memory, and radical presence.
Lloveras, A. (2019) NTNU Architecture Masters Series Trip. [Online] Available at:
