VIRTUAL MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY
Abstract
This study examines pedagogical strategies in early architectural design education through a comparative analysis of selected universities in Texas (United States) and Madrid (Spain). The research is grounded in the premise that early design courses constitute the foundation of architectural learning; from that approach, it investigates how these programs introduce students to the graphic language of architecture, foster critical thinking, and support the deep intellectual and emotional transformation that occurs during the first stages of design education. Drawing, understood broadly as a thinking and explorative tool and a representational medium, emerges as a central pedagogical tool in this phase, guiding students toward new ways of creating and articulating spatial ideas. Methodologically, the research combines an examination of student learning outcomes, core assignments, and studio structures in different schools with a historical review of how early design pedagogy has evolved in response to shifts in professional practice and broader cultural an social dynamics. Interviews with long-standing educators and access to their teaching archives provide additional insights into the intentions, challenges, and values that have informed this evolution. Through this cross-cultural and historically grounded analysis, the study identifies shared principles as well as specific differences between European and American models. The findings aim to clarify how early design education can more effectively support students during this initial period of transformation and to outline strategies that may be transferable between institutions in both contexts.
Belen Butragueño Díaz-Guerra – PhD in Architecture from School of Architecture, Madrid (UPM, ETSAM, 2015, Extraordinary Award). master’s degree from ETSAM. Lecturer and First-Year Coordinator at SoA, UT in Arlington, has also taught in other institutions such as Cuesta College, School of Arch. Of Madrid (ETSAM, UPM), IE School of Arch. in Segovia. She is the author of Koolhaas (auto)editado: del delirio a los elementos (2023), as well as multiple teaching books, conference papers, and articles in scientific journals. Her research focuses on early design teaching, the concept design of information and communication.
Javier Francisco Raposo Grau – PhD in Architecture from School of Architecture, Madrid (UPM, ETSAM, 2004 (Degree with Honors). Master in Construction and Real Estate Business Management from ETSAM (1991). He currently serves as Director of the ETSAM (since 2025) and is Professor in the Department of Graphic Architectural Ideation (DIGA), where he leads the research group Hypermedia: Taller de Configuración y Comunicación Arquitectónica. His work combines professional architectural practice — including urban- and building-scale commissions — with academic research on architectural drawing, graphic communication, BIM methodologies and the pedagogy of architectural representation.
Maria Asuncion Salgado de la Rosa – PhD in Architecture from School of Architecture, Madrid (UPM, ETSAM, 2004 (Degree with Honors). Bachelor’s and master’s degree from ETSAM Associate Professor at the Graphic Arch. Ideation Dept., ETSAM, since 2011. Her research lines are: review of the relationship between architecture, the new media (cinema, video, art) and new technologies; review of the new communication modes applied to the architectural drawing. Hybridizations of the graphic language applied to architecture.