The design challenge for this edition unfolds in a setting of exceptional architectural and cultural significance: the entrances to the Alhambra in Granada, one of the world’s most important heritage sites — an international reference point for the relationship between architecture, landscape and materiality.

Participants will work on the design of a shade structure or resting space, conceived as a mediating element between the city and the monumental complex. The project calls for precision and sensitivity, where landscape integration and structural coherence are key aspects.

The workshop will be directed by Carmen Moreno, Juan Domingo Santos and Héctor Fernández Elorza, architects with extensive professional and teaching experience. The first two have carried out notable architectural interventions within the Alhambra itself, combining historical respect and contemporary vision in a sensitive dialogue with heritage.

Their deep understanding of the monument and the territory of Granada offers a privileged perspective to guide participants in reflecting on how to design within a context laden with cultural and symbolic meaning.

The teaching team will also include prominent guest architects who will deliver lectures and review the students’ work: Atelier do Corvo (Carlos Antunes and Desirée Pedro, Coimbra), Pablo Millán (Seville), Jesús Aparicio (Madrid) and Lucas y Hernández-Gil (Madrid).

In addition, professors from the School of Architecture of Granada will take part, including Tomás García Píriz, Serrano + Baquero, Alejandro Muñoz Miranda and Esther López Martín, together with assistants Alejandro Infantes Pérez and Loreto Corisco González.

Over five days, participants will engage in theoretical and practical sessions, lectures and collective critiques, following a learning approach that combines research, creativity and material experimentation.

The workshop aims to explore how ceramics — a material intrinsic to the Alhambra’s architectural identity — can take on new interpretations in contemporary architecture.

Through manipulation, color, texture and repetition, the young architects will reflect on the potential of the material as a structural, ornamental and symbolic element.

For APE Grupo, this initiative reaffirms its commitment to architectural culture, encouraging a dialogue between past and present that enriches the perspective of future professionals.

The workshop forms part of the company’s wider program of activities with the sector, such as the APE Grupo Architecture Awards, the ‘Ágora’ lecture series and the annual “The New Habitat” report on architecture, interior design and lifestyle trends.