Manuel 'Saga' Sánchez García

Architect. Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow (TT) at ETSAM-UPM. PhD Architectural History #PoliTo + PhD Art History #UGR

Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain

About

Manuel Sánchez García is the first Ramón y Cajal fellow ever appointed at ETSAM-UPM, a position fully funded by the Spanish government through its flagship research program for emerging scholars. He previously held two other postdocs positions, one at ETSAM-UPM (2024-25) and another at Dumbarton Oaks (Harvard University, 2022-23), while also receiving the HORIZON-MSCA Seal of Excellence under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship program (2024). He teaches courses on architectural composition, architectural history and urban history, while participating extensively in mentoring activities for graduate researchers and PhD candidates. A licensed architect trained at Universidad de Granada (Spain, 2013), Manuel holds an additional master’s degree cum laude from Universidad de los Andes (Colombia, 2016), and two PhD cum laude titles, one in architectural history and project from Politecnico di Torino (Italy, 2022) and a second in art history from Universidad de Granada (Madrid, 2022). His PhD dissertation examined the foundational histories of early modern colonial cities across the Spanish empire through the combined analysis of plans and maps with notarial documents and lawsuit records, inaugurating a line of methodological development on Lawscapes studies. He also conducts research on Ibero-American modern architec-ture, and the depiction of architectural cultures and technologies in the videogame industry. Highlighted in 2022 by SAH’s Members Stories, Manuel is a transnational scholar contributing to the connection between European, Latin American, and North American institutions. Between 2021 and 2024 he served as Associate Editor of Architectural Histories, the Open Access journal of the European Architectural History Network. He has served as guest critic at institutions in Spain, Colombia, Chile, and the US, including MIT (SMArchS, SMBT, and BSAD) and Yale University (MED). ANECA Spanish accreditations PAD+PCD (2023) Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Granada - nº 005133

Experience

  • ETSAM (Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid) (Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain · On-site)
    • Investigador Ramón y Cajal (TT)
      Jan 2026 - Present · 7 mos

      Investigador Ramón y Cajal (convocatoria 2024) adscrito al Departamento de Composición Arquitectónica ETSAM-UPM. A cargo del proyecto "NETworking LAWSCAPES: Colonial Law and Urban Landscapes in the Spanish Empire" para la creación de una red de investigación en historia de la arquitectura colonial en los Mundos Ibéricos a través del análisis de documentos legales, títulos de propiedad de la tierra, privilegios reales y otros manuscritos que conectan las políticas del imperio con la ejecución de proyectos urbanos, ingenieriles, territoriales y de control del paisaje durante la modernidad temprana.

    • Investigador Juan de la Cierva
      Jan 2024 - Dec 2025 · 2 yrs

      Investigador Postdoctoral Juan de la Cierva adscrito al Departamento de Composición Arquitectónica de la Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid ETSAM, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. A cargo del proyecto "The Lawscape Survey" enfocado en el análisis de documentos legales, títulos de propiedad de la tierra, privilegios reales y otros manuscritos que conectan las políticas del imperio español con la ejecución de proyectos urbanos, ingenieriles, territoriales y de control del paisaje durante la modernidad temprana (1400-1800).

  • Redactor freelance at National Geographic
    Sep 2017 - Present · 8 yrs 11 mos

    Redactor freelance para la revista HISTORIA de National Geographic, elaborando y publicando artículos como "San Pedro del Vaticano: la construcción del mayor templo de la cristiandad", portada de NG Historia número 165, septiembre de 2017

  • Fundador at Amate+Saga
    Feb 2021 - Present · 5 yrs 6 mos

    Fundador de Amate+Saga, oficina de arquitectura y diseño estratégico, junto a la arquitecta Eva Amate.

  • SAH Contingent Faculty Committee Founding Member at Society of Architectural Historians
    Aug 2023 - Apr 2026 · 2 yrs 9 mos

    Founding member of the newly created Contingent Faculty Committee of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH). This committee is charged with developing strategies and hosting events to better support contingent faculty who are members of SAH. For the purposes of this committee, contingent faculty is defined widely and includes any faculty and scholars who are not in tenure-track positions.

  • Associate Editor of Architectural Histories at European Architectural History Network
    Jan 2021 - Dec 2024 · 4 yrs

    Editorial Assistant 2021-2022, promoted to Associate Editor on January 1st 2021, up to December 31st, 2024. Architectural Histories is the international, blind peer-reviewed scholarly journal of the European Architectural History Network (EAHN) that creates a space where historically grounded research into all aspects of architecture and the built environment can be made public, consulted, and discussed. The journal is open to historical, historiographic, theoretical, and critical contributions that engage with architecture and the built environment from a historical perspective. Architectural Histories also encourages authors to submit articles on non-European topics, including regions, themes, time periods, characters, works, and fields, that have been traditionally excluded from the canon of architectural history. Architectural Histories is indexed in SHERPA RoMEO, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), EBSCOHost, Google Scholar, the Emerging Sources Citation Index, the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, the Italian ANVUR (classe A - Area 8), the European Reference Index for Humanities and Social Sciences (ERIH PLUS), the Cengage Learning and SCOPUS. In addition, Architectural Histories is available for harvesting via OAI-PMH.