Luis E. Fraguada investigates critical issues in architecture, design, and urbanism through various modes, including associative design, scripting, and fabrication.  Luis’ architectural studies began at the University of Colorado, Boulder where he was able to begin exploring computational tools and theories which would lead him to choose this field as a specialty.  Luis pursued his master’s degree in architecture and urbanism (M.Arch) from the Architectural Association Design Research Laboratory (DRL) in London where he studied with Theodore Spyropoulos.  Luis chose this program for its intense use of computational tools and extensive physical prototyping of dynamic structures.  A post-graduate degree in Digital Architectural Production at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) brought Luis to Barcelona, where he is currently based.  The Digital Tectonics program, directed by Marta Malé-Alemany, allowed Luis to explore how scripting and digital tools can drive materials to be produced and manipulated via cnc machinery.

Luis’ professional experience is as varied as his academic endeavors.  Out of the experience of IaaC, Luis co-founded LaN | Live Architecture Network in 2007, a global consultancy forwarding associative design and fabrication.  LaN holds professional and academic workshops globally in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia which immerse participants in the latest fabrication technology and computational processes.  This format allowed Luis to collaborate and consult with structural engineers, scientists, choreographers, industrial fabricators, and of course, architects and designers.  In 2007, Luis took a position at Vicente Guallart Architects where he worked on several projects as computational expert, including the now completed Vinaros Sea Pavilion in Vinaros, Spain, and the Cultural Gate to Alborz in Tehran, Iran which is under construction.  Recognized as an advanced user of Rhinoceros 3D software, Luis began to teach courses in scripting and Grasshopper 3d in Barcelona and in conferences around the world for Robert McNeel and Associates. Luis’ teaching capacities brought him back to academia.  Luis is currently member of the Faculty of Architecture at IaaC as the principle computation instructor, focusing on the interface between computational processes and fabrication and has taught at the Advanced Design of Digital Architecture program (ADDA) directed by Jordi Truco at Elisava in Barcelona.  To date, Luis has taught workshops and courses in fifteen countries. Luis joined Built By Associative Data as an associate and the Director of the Barcelona office in 2010.  His time there is focused on the collection, generation, and classification of relevant data which was utilized to guide and formalize project decisions.

Luis currently consults and creates tools for private clients while broadening his research into fashion, product design, and gastronomy.