There are three years to go before Barcelona hosts the congress of the International Union of Architects (UIA) for the second time. It already did so in 1996, in the wake of the Olympic transformation, with a great success of participation and strong repercussions. In 2026, the Catalan capital has proposed to once again be the epicenter of the debate on the present and future of this discipline and, especially, its social impact, its ability to improve people’s lives and face new global challenges. The event heats up engines. This Tuesday the call for an international contest to choose its curator was announced, and its graphic image, created by the Pràctica studio, was also presented.
The congress has the support of the central and Catalan governments, the City Council, the Superior Council of Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE) and the Col·legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya (COAC) and will be held in parallel to the capital Architecture World Cup in Barcelona in 2026, sponsored by Unesco. The presentation included the participation of Minister Raquel Sánchez, who, among other portfolios, directs the Urban Agenda; the Regional Minister for Territories, Ester Capella; the first deputy mayor, Laia Bonet; the president of the CSCAE, Marta Vall-llossera; and the dean of the COAC, Guillem Costa.
“No other city exemplifies the power of architecture to change the present and offer a better future like Barcelona”, said Sánchez. Capella stressed that “for many years the country’s capital has expressed itself through its architecture.” For his part, Bonet recalled the footprint left by the 1996 congress, advocated repeating that experience and expressed the shared desire to “continue redrawing the city, because we don’t like blank pages.”
This is the first time that a contest has been called to choose the commissioner of the UIA congress. The process, which opens this Wednesday the 28th, will have two rounds. Their results will be announced, respectively, in September and December, with the aim that the winner can work in January 2024. The team, which will receive fees of 181,500 euros (VAT included), may be multidisciplinary but will have to led by an architect. It must give a conceptual shape to the event, covering, among other aspects, the determination of the theme and motto, its development, structure, participants and venues.