UIA World Congress of Architects Barcelona 2026

As part of the programme “Architecture in Transition: from Heritage to Urban Future”, the event took place during the pre-opening days of the 19th Architecture Biennale in the headquarters of UNESCO in Venice

The UIA World Congress of Architects Barcelona 2026 (UIA2026BCN) was presented

at Palazzo Zorzi, the headquarters of UNESCO in Venice, as part of the programme organised

by the UIA Architecture in Transition: from Heritage to Urban Futures. The event took place

during the pre-opening days of the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, which this year is centred

on the theme “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective”, proposed by urban planner and curator

Carlo Ratti.

During the presentation, representatives from the organising institutions, the Scientific

Committee, and the curatorial team outlined the structure of the lectures and activities of the

event, which is themed Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition, and which, between

28 June and 2 July 2026, will transform Barcelona into a true international open laboratory of

architecture, attracting over 10,000 professionals, representatives from the academic

community and students from around the world to debate the future of the planet and the

role of architecture in the most urgent and necessary upcoming transitions. This will also help

raise awareness of the discipline among the public.

The Congress, convened by the International Union of Architects (UIA), has taken place every

three years since 1948. The organisation of this edition is led by the Higher Council of

Professional Associations of Architects of Spain (CSCAE) in collaboration with the Architects’

Association of Catalonia (COAC), and is made possible thanks to the drive and support of the

Barcelona City Council, the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Ministry of Housing and Urban

Agenda (MIVAU). In addition to offering institutional support, these administrations are jointly

funding the celebration of this globally significant event, which has been recognised as an event

of exceptional public interest.

The presentation had the participation of Iñaqui Carnicero, Secretary General for Urban

Agenda, Housing, and Architecture; Víctor Puga, Secretary for Territory, Urban Planning, and

the Urban Agenda of the Generalitat de Catalunya; Maria Buhigas, Chief Architect of

Barcelona; Regina Gonthier, President of the International Union of Architects and Marta Vall-

llossera, President of the Higher Council of Professional Associations of Architects of Spain

and the Congress, as well as Fuensanta Nieto, President of the Scientific Committee of the

Congress, alongside the curatorial team, formed by architects Pau Bajet, Mariona Benedito,

Maria Giramé, Tomeu Ramis, Pau Sarquella, and Carmen Torres. The event was also

attended by Guim Costa Calsamiglia, Dean of the Col·legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya and

Director of the Congress.

Barcelona is the first city in the world to host the Congress for a second time, having previously

done so in 1996. Under the agreement between the UIA and UNESCO, by hosting the

Congress, the city is designated as the World Capital of Architecture 2026. During the event,

the programme of collateral activities of this initiative was also presented, further consolidating

the city as a global reference in the field of architecture.

Becoming. Architectures for a planet in transition

The central theme of the Congress, Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition, has

been developed by the curatorial team in collaboration with the Scientific Committee, made up

of twenty-five internationally renowned experts, under the honorary presidency of Joan

Busquets and the direction of Fuensanta Nieto. Together, they are working to define an

innovative, engaging programme.

Becoming aims to identify and address the most relevant issues, practices, methods and

research to enable a sustainable, equitable and inclusive future, calling on architects to actively

participate in the Congress. In the words of the curatorial team: «Becoming refers to a process

of change, to the ‘becoming’ fostered by the appropriation and transformation of our inhabited3/7

environments — both human and more-than-human, individual and collective — exploring the

potential of time as a design tool. Far from the notion of tabula rasa, it is grounded in the

awareness of pre-existing physical and cultural contexts, articulating transitions through

material, political, ecological and poetic interrelations.»

UIA2026BCN distinguishes itself from previous editions by being an ‘urban’ Congress,

focusing on the production of specific, speculative and applicable knowledge through

architectural design and encouraging both debates and individual lectures, with the aim of

generating rich, cross-cutting and diverse discussions on the six thematic pillars of Becoming,

established by the curatorial team. These six pillars are:

Becoming More-than-Human addresses the role of architecture in the challenges of ecological

coexistence, Becoming Attuned explores forms of meaning and poetics in everyday practice;

Becoming Embodied focuses on the values and responsibilities embedded in the transitions

between matter and construction, Becoming Interdependent recognises that space is not

neutral and examines how its design shapes interpersonal relationships, Becoming Hyper-

Conscious investigates approaches that help raise awareness of global and local interactions

and Becoming Circular advocates for the circularity of materials, energy recirculation, and

spatial reprogramming as an alternative to indiscriminate demolition.

An international invitation to be part of the Congress

The event highlighted the international Call for Participants, open until 23 May 2025, which

invites professionals worldwide to submit their projects, essays and multimedia pieces that

critically explore the various ways in which architecture connects with the six research themes

of Becoming. The call is open to professionals from the fields of architecture or urbanism,

as well as design, research, photography, film, art or any other discipline that may be

relevant within the conceptual framework of the Congress.

The Call for Participants is structured into three different participation formats:

– Critical Design: aimed at both built and unbuilt projects;

– Critical Paper: aimed at essays, academic articles and research papers;

– Critical Image: aimed at photographic, multimedia and audiovisual documents.

The jury is composed of internationally renowned professionals, experts in various disciplines

such as: landscape architect Catherine Mosbach, architect Xu Tiantian, historian Samia

Henni, architect and researcher Marina Otero, historian Philip Ursprung, architect Lydia

Kallipolity, architect Giovanna Borasi, architecture photographer Maxime Delvaux and

architect Urtzi Grau. The jury will also include members from the Scientific Committee and the

Curatorial Team. Among all the submissions, around 75 contributions will be selected to

participate in the Congress as a lecture, exhibition and/or in the official catalogue. These

contributions will account for 35% of the participations, while the remaining 65% will be

designated by the Congress’s Scientific Committee in collaboration with the Curatorial Team.

To date, the call has been well received with more than 500 proposals from over 40 countries

and territories. The selection will be based on diversity, originality, quality and relevance,4/7

promoting the representation of voices from different contexts and countries. Factors such as

international representation, gender and generational balance, multidisciplinarity and

inclusivity will also be considered, including both renowned studios and emerging

practices.

In addition to the Call for Participants, UIA2026BCN will open new participation opportunities in

the coming months by launching the International Student Competition and the International

Student Workshop, which will take place in the week leading up to the congress

Official venues of the Congress

The two main venues of the Congress will be: the former Sant Adrià de Besòs power plant, also

known as the Three Chimneys, a landmark of Barcelona’s coastal landscape, and the Disseny

Hub Barcelona (DHub), with its central and strategic position within the large urban

development of Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes. Additionally, other locations, spread across

different neighbourhoods of the city, such as Montjuïc Castle, Moll de la Marina and the

Sagrada Família, among others, will host public events.

Congress Format and Schedule

The participation format includes lectures in plenary sessions moderated by critical

antagonists, conferences, debates between two or three speakers, round tables,

workshops for students, a large public exhibition and an official Congress catalogue.

The Congress includes the commissioning of unpublished project-based research, Research by

Design. This approach aims to bring research into the practical realm to develop concrete,

contextualised solutions, generating knowledge from real studies and projects.

With a total of twelve Research by Design projects (two per thematic pillar), this key

programme proposal will be carried out over nearly a year of work. In addition to the lectures by

the leaders of each research project, their results will be presented through the catalogue and in

the exhibition.

Six of the challenges will focus on international research, while the other six will use

Barcelona as their field of study. Among these, the first to be made public is Water

Parliaments that represent Catalonia at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Water Parliaments:

Projective Ecosocial Architectures is curated, designed, and produced by Eva Franch i Gilabert,

Mireia Luzárraga, Alejandro Muiño, and organised by the Institut Ramon Llull. The project

explores the fundamental role of water as a vital resource and cultural agent, addressing

climate crisis through architecture, interdisciplinary research and innovative design.

This project was selected through an open international call, with the guidelines conceptualised

within the Becoming framework. On the other hand, among the international Research by

Design projects are those carried out by architecture studios Atelier Bow-Wow, de Vylder

Vinck, Colectivo C733, architect Anna Puigjaner and the research group Forensic

Architecture.5/7

In addition, two other Research by Design projects will emerge from the projects presented in

the international call MINERAL. Architectures of Urban Mining call, organised in collaboration

with the Fundación BIT Habitat and the Barcelona City Council. This initiative, centred on the

themes Becoming Embodied and Becoming Circular, will soon announce the selected

proposals.

From May onwards, tickets will be available through the website uia2026bcn.org and,

unlike previous editions, they will be accessible in price to encourage broad participation.