The origins of the Madrid School of Architecture date back to 1582, the year in which the architect Juan de Herrera proposed to Felipe II the creation of an Academy of Mathematics that included specific architectural studies. Starting in 1757, architecture studies moved to the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts. In 1848 the Madrid Special School of Architecture became independent as an autonomous institution. Its current headquarters was projected from 1927 as part of the University City of Madrid and was inaugurated in 1936, with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Since 1971, the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM) is part of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.
Currently, at ETSAM there are undergraduate studies in Fundamentals of Architecture, eight university master’s degrees, and seven doctoral programs, apart from other titles of their own. The 17 active research groups at ETSAM cover a wide spectrum of architectural research. On the other hand, the practice of architecture occupies part of the activity of the majority of the ETSAM teaching staff, among which are some of the most recognized professionals in Spain.
