Barcelona prepares to be the world capital of architecture

There is still a long way to go until 2026, but the City Council does not want to miss the opportunity that Barcelona hosting the Congress of the International Union of Architects (UIA) and being the UIA-Unesco World Capital of Architecture will entail. It will be the moment to internationally project the transformations that are being promoted in the city to adapt to challenges such as climate change and inequality.

The consistory kicked off preparations for organizing this event this Monday, accompanied by the rest of its travel companions: the Generalitat, the Government, the Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya (COAC), and the Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España (CSCAE). "We are now launching Barcelona's capital status," defended the deputy mayor, Janet Sanz.

The first action to prepare the ground that has been announced has been the evolution of Architecture Week, an event that the City Council and the COAC organize in May, at the Barcelona Architecture Festival. Architecture Week has been held since 2017 to offer activities to citizens that allow them to highlight the architectural heritage of the Catalan capital. In this year's edition, which mixed in-person with virtual activities, the figure of the architect Enric Miralles and spaces such as the Taller Masriera and the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion were celebrated.

"We want to make a leap in scale," Sanz remarked. To do this, the Generalitat, the Government, and the CSCAE will join in the preparation of the new festival, which will last more days and extend throughout the entire month. In addition, the focus will be placed beyond Barcelona, exploring the debates that take place in Catalonia and the rest of Spain, and there will be a guest city, which will serve to learn about other models and contrast them with those here. Sanz pointed out that new perspectives will be incorporated, such as culture and ecology, with the aim of enriching the debates. The new Architecture Festival will arrive in May next year.

Barcelona prevailed over Beijing

The Catalan capital was chosen last July by the general assembly of the UIA to host the congress in 2026, a decision that also implies the world capital status. The candidacy, promoted by the city council, the Generalitat, and the Government, won with 149 votes against Beijing's, which obtained 129. The UIA congress, which has been organized since 1948, will involve the celebration of a multitude of activities in Barcelona around architecture and will feature the participation of other countries. The motto of the 2026 edition will be One today, one tomorrow.

This will not be the first time that the Catalan capital hosts this event, as recalled by the dean of the COAC, Assumpció Puig. The first time was in 1996, right after the Olympic Games. If the sporting event allowed the city to open up to the sea, the architectural capital status left its mark on the neighborhoods, putting the focus on them and empowering them, Puig remarked. With this precedent, the dean has argued that the return of the UIA will serve to highlight the transformative role of architecture.