Alvaro LRDesign
Alvaro Lopez Rodriguez, Phd
@alvarolrd
alvarolopezrodriguezdesign@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/alvaro-lopez-559286106
Alvaro Lopez Rodriguez is an architect, researcher, and Associate Professor (Teaching) at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, where he leads innovation at the intersection of robotics, 3D printing, and mixed reality. In October 2025, he completed his PhD at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid with the thesis "Digital Interactions: Architecture for the Augmented Era," which redefines the synergy between human craftsmanship and digital automation. He also holds a Master of Architecture with Distinction from The Bartlett and a Master’s in Architecture from the European University of Madrid.
Complementing his academic tenure, Alvaro is a highly sought-after Digital Manufacturing Consultant. He has collaborated with pioneering international firms, including Nagami, Ensamble Studio, and DBT ETH Zurich, to implement advanced robotic fabrication and augmented reality workflows in large-scale architectural projects. His expertise bridges the gap between computational design and physical construction, focusing on "Augmented Craftsmanship" to empower local labour through intuitive technological tools.
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CV
INCIDENTAL SPACE VENICE BIEANNALE, 2016
INCIDENTAL SPACE
Christian Kerez
Architect: Christian Kerez
Curator: Sandra Oehy
Development and Production
In collaboration with ETH Zürich, Department of Architecture:
Benjamin Dillenburger – Assistant Professor for Digital Building TechnologiesJoseph Schwartz – Chair of Structural Design,
Karin Sander – Chair of Architecture and Art, Ludger Hovestadt – Chair of Computer-Aided Architectural Design,
Christian Kerez – Chair of Architecture and DesignAlessandro Tellini – Raplap D-Arch ETHZ
ETH Zurich, Department of Computer Science:
Daniele Panozzo, Olga Sorkine-Hornung – Interactive Geometry Lab
Project Architects:
Joni Kacani
Lea Grunder
Nicolò Krättli
Melina Mezari
Poltak Pandjaitan
Dimitrios Katsis
Adi Grüninger
Gianna Ledermann
Jann Erhard
Victoria Fard
Digital Manufacturing:
Martyn Carter &
Alvaro Lopez Rodriguez
Graphic Design and Visual Communication:
Ludovic Balland
DESCRIPTION
Architecture today is increasingly defined by what is permissible rather than what is possible. In response to a landscape of heavy regulation, Christian Kerez’s Incidental Space serves as a "state of exception"—a project that utilises the Venice Architecture Biennale to critically interrogate the everyday conditions of the built environment.
Inspired by Odilon Redon’s concept of mystery and the "double aspect" of forms, the project seeks to investigate space through architecture itself. Rather than representing an external idea or movement, Incidental Space stands as a thesis of its own existence. It is a detail-rich, architectonic void created through a sophisticated coupling of manual craftsmanship and digital translation. The resulting form exists simultaneously as both a physical structure and a complex cloud of data, in which every point of information is of equal value.
Because the project lacks a familiar "portrait" or recognisable architectural motif, it purposefully overwhelms the viewer. It offers multiple readings that shift with the observer's state of mind, producing a moment of resistance that stimulates deep reflection. This complexity is the result of an intensive interdisciplinary exchange between architects, engineers, and digital specialists.
Incidental Space is more than an installation; it is a provocation. It challenges the field to move beyond the status quo, pushing the frontiers of our technical and imaginative capacities to redefine how we think, build, and experience the world around us.