The guided tour led by Gemma Pagès, director of the Technical and Communications Department, gave the students a first-hand look at the innovative semidry manufacture process of concrete urban paving elements, as well as the granite quarry next to the factory and the laboratory in which the company researches and promotes new solutions for improving urban spaces. These new developments include elements produced from recycled aggregates and the immense range of colours and finishes that architects can choose to use in their urban designs. One of their most striking innovations is the Airclean system, a solution that reduces air pollution by means of an agent that decontaminates through photocatalysis. With this process, sunlight causes the pollutant oxides (NOx) to decompose into subproducts that are washed away by rainwater.

An enriching experience in all senses, and one that Professor Jordi Roviras, who has promoted this factory tour for a number of years as lecturer in the Department of Construction, feels, just like the field trips to architectural sites, is indispensable, enjoyable and necessary for the students to fully understand the explanations given in class.

The subject Introduction to Architectural Construction is a compulsory subject in year one at the ESARQ-School of Architecture at UIC Barcelona. The aim of the class is to better the students' understanding of different kinds of materials. The students strive to create a plausible design, taking as a starting point the generic elements which make it possible to introduce the requirements that, generally speaking, constrain any building experience, in this case: the terrain, the containment systems and the paving or surface finishes of the exterior space.