Paula Fuentes González

Paula Fuentes González is a permanent professor in the Department of Architecture at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). She holds a PhD from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (2013) on the structural analysis of medieval crossed-arch vaults. Her research focuses on historical architectural techniques, particularly the geometry, construction, and stability of vaults and domes in Mediterranean and European Gothic structures. She leads the IMArq (Image, Metrics & Architecture) research group, specializing in metric analysis and structural studies of historical buildings.

Key research areas include tile vaulting innovations in 19th-20th century Europe, structural mechanics of flying buttresses, and preservation of medieval religious architecture. Notable projects involve stability assessments of cathedrals in Mallorca, Zaragoza, and Santiago de Compostela. Her work bridges historical construction practices with modern engineering analysis through graphical methods and computational modeling.

Publications emphasize interdisciplinary approaches, combining architectural history with structural engineering to explain technical challenges solved by medieval and early modern builders. Recent studies explore the industrialization of traditional techniques in France and Belgium, and the transfer of Islamic building technologies into Gothic architecture.

Technical reports include structural evaluations for churches like Sant Miquel in Palma de Mallorca and San Francisco in Sahagún. Her research highlights the interplay between form, material, and structural logic in historical building systems, offering insights for modern preservation practices.