Mónica Alcindor holds a PhD in Architecture from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Spain (2011). She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Spain (2019), a postgraduate degree in Heritage Intervention Techniques from UPC, Barcelona (2010), a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Construction, Restoration, and Architectural Rehabilitation (2007), and a degree in Architecture from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Sevilla (ETSAS), Spain (1999).
She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture and Multimedia Gallaecia at Universidade Portucalense (UPT) and Director of CIAUD-UPT, a branch of the CIAUD Research Centre in Architecture, Urbanism, and Design at UPT. In 2002, she was responsible for the construction management of a market in Ivory Coast as part of an Architects Without Borders project.
Between 2004 and 2015, at Atelier Bangolo, she worked on rural heritage refurbishments and new construction, applying bioclimatic principles and traditional building techniques. She has served as a Guest Professor at the Unió d’Empresaris de la Construcció in Catalonia (2006), an Assistant Professor at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) (2010–2012), and at ESG (2011–2021).
She was Co-Director of the XXXVIII Curset AADIPA 2015: Traditional Architecture—Essence or Form? and of the first course on traditional construction in Girona, both organized by the College of Architects of Catalonia (2015). She has also served as President of the Scientific Council of Escola Superior Gallaecia (ESG) (2014–2016; 2018–2020) and as Deputy Director of the Integrated Master’s Degree in Architecture and Urbanism at ESG (2016–2019).
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of her academic background, her research adopts a social and anthropological perspective in the analysis of architectural heritage, aligned with the anthropology of architectural heritage. She has recently published in indexed journals such as Habitat International, Journal of Rural Studies, International Journal of Heritage Studies, Sustainability, Buildings, Land, and Learning, Culture and Social Interaction.
Awards and Recognitions:
– 1st Iberian Prize for Research on Traditional Architecture (2011–2012)
– 1st Prize, XII Premis Ecoviure for Sustainable Installations and Constructions (2014)
– Supervisor of the finalist project for the Archiprix Portugal 2016 Award (Pedro Vila Pouca)
– Outstanding Reviewer, Emerald Literati Awards (2022)
Keywords: Anthropology of building systems; anthropology of built heritage; intangible heritage; traditional architecture.
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