Ignacio Galán (Huesca, 1991) is a Spanish architect and researcher, currently based in Belgium. He teaches in the Master of Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture, KULeuven.
Passionate about architectural heritage and cultural landscapes, he initiated his research on rural mountain areas moved by his interest in the phenomenon of depopulation of villages, studied on his dissertation work (2015) “Thermae: reviving Tiermas”. This project aimed to recover and revitalize in one of the 300 abandoned and contested settlements at the Spanish Pyrenees, through the enhancement of its local resources and spatial qualities -embedded into its architectural heritage and surrounding natural landscape-, translated into the introduction of a new program which would initiate the progressive reactivation of the village.
His Master’s Thesis in KU Leuven about the old docks of Merksem (Antwerpen) through his project “Bringing back the dok. Industry and public space in symbiosis: Merksem case” was awarded with Van Hove Prijs 2016.
The interest and contribution of Ignacio to architectural practice is closely linked to the field of heritage adaptation.
His PhD research “(Re)Occupy the ruin: Unveiling the capacity of vernacular heritage for the regeneration of depopulated settlements in mountain territories under transformation” investigates the transformation of Pyrenean cultural landscapes under the effects of depopulation. The development of rural territories is currently an intensely debated topic among European regions whose rural communities are facing numerous challenges. The objective of this study is to understand the ongoing process of change in these mountain areas under the influence of shrinkage and the pressure of external urban agents, providing strategies for the enhancement of these landscapes and improvement of life conditions of local communities.
His research was supervised by Prof. Yves Schoonjans and Prof. Gisèle Gantois, and funded by an FWO Fundamental Research Grant.
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