From October 5 to November 30, the College of Technical Architecture of Barcelona (Cateb) organizes 8 debate sessions and film screenings with sector experts to address challenges such as rental prices, youth emancipation, or the impact of climate change.
Access to decent housing has become one of the main social concerns of citizens. To bring the reflection out of offices and open it to the public, the College of Technical Architecture of Barcelona (Cateb) is launching "Artec at the cinema," a series of eight cineforums that will take place in the halls of Espai Texas between October 5 and November 30.
The initiative is born with the aim of using the seventh art as a vehicle to discuss real solutions to the multiple facets of the housing crisis: from rental inflation and speculation to digital coexistence, immigration, or the effects of the climate crisis on buildings. «Housing is too important to be restricted to the professionals who work in it,» explains Celestí Ventura, president of Cateb. «With this series, we want to open the doors of the College and generate a space for conversation with citizens, listen to other perspectives, and contribute to the debate on how we want the spaces where we live to be.»
This proposal is part of the Artec Festival, one of Cateb's central initiatives coinciding with Barcelona's celebration as World Capital of Architecture 2026.
Debates and podcast recording
The structure of each day is designed to generate critical opinion. The sessions will always begin at 7:00 PM with a round table moderated by journalists from Diari ARA (such as Antoni Bassas, Carla Turró, Ignasi Aragay, or Esther Vera), where voices from the architecture, economy, sociology, health, and communication sectors will participate. Afterwards, a film or documentary related to the day's theme will be screened.
In addition, all debates are recorded and will be subsequently published in podcast format. Each meeting is co-organized by a key entity in Catalonia's building and urban management ecosystem, such as the College of Architects (COAC), the Chamber of Contractors, the Construmat fair, or COHABITAC.
Eight cinematographic perspectives to talk about the housing crisis
The cycle will start on October 5 and will address the problem of rent, price inflation, and tourist pressure in a session co-organized with the College of Property Administrators (CAFBL). This first debate, moderated by Antoni Bassas and with the participation of writer Llúcia Ramis, Joana Amat, and Camino Quiroga, will be illustrated with the screening of the short films Sisè primera and Gastos incluidos.
A few days later, on October 14, the reflection will turn to the dilemma of whether housing should be considered an investment asset or a social right. Accompanied by the film La furgo and with the help of COHABITAC, anthropologist Manuel Delgado, Carme Trilla, and economist Josep Oliver will discuss market tensions under the moderation of Carla Turró.
For its part, youth emancipation and the difficulties of accessing a first home will be the focus of the October 19 session, organized with Alumni EPSEB of the UPC. After watching the feature film Chavalas, Pol Casellas, José Téllez, and Anna Puigdevall will analyze the barriers faced by new generations.
Technology and the impact of the digital world on coexistence will be the protagonists on October 26 in a session with Construmat. The futuristic film Her, by Spike Jonze, will introduce a round table composed of Eugènia Revilla, Genís Roca, and Mar Santamaria Varas. Already in November, on the 9th, the cycle will address the role of housing as a tool for reception and integration for the migrant population, in a meeting with the Barcelona Construction Guild and the documentary Històries de la Vall Bona, where Montserrat Pareja, Àlex Mendoza, and Carolina Pallàs will participate.
New models of collective living, such as co-housing or cooperatives, will be analyzed on November 16 together with the College of Architects of Catalonia. The screening of Kollektivet (The Commune), by Thomas Vinterberg, will open the colloquium between demographer Albert Esteve, Josep M. Borrell, and Toni Vidal.
In the final stretch of the cycle, mental health and urban well-being will be the focus on November 23 in a session co-organized with the ITeC. Based on the documentary The Human Scale, Jordi Martí, Sònia Hernández-Montaño, and Jaume Raventós will discuss how architecture conditions our body and our mind.
The closing of the cycle will be on November 30 and will be led by the Chamber of Works Contractors of Catalonia and the science fiction film Snowpiercer, by Bong Joon-ho. It is a film that will provide a dystopian vision to discuss energy efficiency, rehabilitation and the effects of climate change on our buildings with economist Mar Reguant, popularizer Pere Renom and Joan Sanahuja.
A festival to diagnose the future of our homes
This program offer at Espai Texas is completed with other outstanding actions of the Artec Festival during the autumn. On the one hand, the exhibition The body we inhabit, designed to help citizens diagnose the state of conservation of their own building and discover maintenance guidelines. On the other hand, the series of talks Dialogues at the University, organized jointly with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), where the profiles and competencies that will define the technical architecture of the future will be analyzed.