Architect. Member of the Prize’s Board of Experts (2014-2018, 2026)

Kathrin Golda-Pongratz is a Professor in the Department of Urbanism at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC-BarcelonaTech) and Vice-Dean of the School of Architecture of El Vallès (ETSAV). She has held teaching and research appointments at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, the National University of Engineering in Lima, La Salle School of Architecture and UIC School of Architecture in Barcelona, and Clemson University. She holds a PhD in architecture and urban planning from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, Germany). As a member of the Laboratori d’Urbanisme de Barcelona (LUB), she publishes and lectures internationally. Her research focuses on urban memory, urban culture and public space, Hispano-American urbanism, postcolonial urbanization, non-formal housing, and place-making strategies. Her book (with J. L. Oyón and V. Zimmermann), John F. C. Turner. Autoconstrucción. Por una autonomía del habitar, received the FAD Award for Thought and Criticism in 2019.

As a photographer, she has held solo exhibitions in Peru, Germany, Argentina, and Spain. Her publication Landscapes of Pressure (2014) was a finalist for the FAD Award. In 2018 she presented the documentary Ciudad Infinita, Voces de El Ermitaño, which reactivates the urban memory of a self-built neighbourhood in Lima and has been shown at international film and urban forums. Her work also extends to curating and cultural transmission, and she is affiliated with several international cultural and academic institutions.

Last update: January 2026