Sustainability, the lack of affordable housing, and the incorporation of talent and technology such as artificial intelligence are the main challenges currently facing the construction sector. These challenges will define the main themes of Construmat, the exhibition that will transform Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue into the largest and most transversal showcase for the construction industry from May 20 to 22. In its 24th edition, the fair increases the number of participating companies by 24% and the occupied exhibition space by 15%, exceeding 350 exhibitors and 12,000 square meters.
With innovative solutions and proposals, ranging from machinery, materials, tools, and industrialized construction to urban planning and interior space design, the exhibition, expected to exceed 22,000 visitors in pavilion 2 of the Gran Via exhibition center, will turn Barcelona into the epicenter of construction in Spain. The commercial offer will focus on sustainability and efficiency improvement, with innovative solutions in areas such as flooring, walls, facades and roofs, kitchens, bathrooms, lighting, carpentry, locksmithing, and sun protection, among others.
The 24th edition of Construmat grows in the number of participating companies, with 700 brands represented, covering all areas involved in construction transversally. Thus, the exhibition will feature the participation of leading firms in the sector, such as Alsina, Technal, K-line, Urbidermis, Jung, Greco Gres, Exlabesa, Deceuninck, Grupo Valverde, Cosentino, StilCondal, Indalsu, Alufactory, Fischer, PMP, Molins, Saltoki Offsite, Lahyer, Evowall, Tq Tecnol, Renolit, Dakota, Steico, Saloni, KLH, or A. Solanes.
The exhibition, the longest-running in the construction sector throughout Spain, will complement its exhibition offer with an extensive program of 120 activities.Among the exhibiting companies, 35% come from outside Spain. Specifically,120 international companies will participate,140% more than in its last edition, coming from about twenty countries such as France, Germany, Portugal, China, Morocco, or Egypt, among others. This year Turkey will be the guest country at the fair with the participation of twenty exhibitors, mostly manufacturers of materials and machinery for construction, and a notable presence in the conferences and activities of the fair, during which Limak, the Turkish company in charge of the construction of the Camp Nou, will present some of its projects.
The response to the current challenges of the construction sector also involves innovation and the application of disruptive technologies. For this reason, Construmat has doubled the number of participating startups in the event, which will go from 20 emerging companies in the previous edition to 40 in this year's edition, which will present disruptive technological solutions to optimize processes and reduce costs. Among the proposals, sensors to monitor concrete resistance in real time or systems to analyze infrastructures using drones and 3D technology stand out.
The exhibition, the longest-running in the construction sector in Spain, will complement its exhibition offer with an extensive program of 120 activities, among which the sessions of the Sustainable Building Congress stand out. With more than a hundred national and international speakers, the conferences will address three major themes: affordable social housing, the health and biohabitability of buildings ---which studies how physical and mental health can be affected by the space where one lives or works--- and the practical applications of artificial intelligence to architecture and building. Among the speakers are names such as David Adjaye, the Barcelona-based firm Peris+Toral focused on public housing and urban planning, Stephen Bates and Mohammed Adib.
Building more affordable housing and attracting talent
To address the lack of affordable housing, Construmat has also worked with the main sectoral associations to prepare the document A constructive look. Decalogue to address housing shortage in Spain, which includes the necessary measures to solve this problem. A decalogue that will be presented at the inaugural session of the congress and will be delivered to the different representatives of the administrations that visit the fair, as they consider public-private collaboration essential to increase the production of affordable housing. In this sense, Construmat calls for the application of measures such as the streamlining and improvement of licensing processes for construction or the formulation of a State Pact for Housing.
Thus, the decalogue highlights the need to increase construction by 220,000 homes annually, to compensate for the deficit currently suffered by Spain. "The initiatives presented within the framework of Construmat allow housing construction to be more efficient and less costly," said the president of the show, Xavier Vilajoana, who stressed the urgency of "building more and better so that affordable housing can also be healthy and efficient."
Another challenge facing the construction sector is the incorporation of young people and women. With the aim of attracting new talent and presenting architecture and building as an attractive career option, the show will open to universities and training centers on May 22 with Talent Day. The program will include guided tours and different sessions to learn about the types of professionals demanded by the industry and a marketplace organized together with Barcelona Activa. Likewise, the show will feature a wooden construction called La Plaza, designed by two young students and entrepreneurs, founders of Blue Containers Company, who won the Ideas Competition for the design of this space aimed at students from universities and training cycles related to architecture and construction.
"The activities have been designed with a practical approach to promote the exchange of ideas among the different professional profiles visiting the fair, with the aim that they can apply them in their work and projects," emphasized Roger Bou, director of Construmat. With this objective, the 24th edition of the show will premiere a new space, the Construmat Experience, where the most sectoral conferences and workshops will take place, and where inspiring projects from countries such as Morocco, Portugal, Italy, France, and Turkey will be analyzed, and issues such as resilient construction solutions against natural disasters or reconstruction strategies after DANA will be addressed.
Within the framework of the show, several masterclasses certified by the Council for International Accreditation of Architecture & Design (CIAAD) will also take place, where social sustainability and architectural heritage will be discussed, as well as the use of artificial intelligence in the design of more sensitive and conscious spaces. On the other hand, another central space will be the exhibition of sustainable materials Rethink, prepared by the materials library of the United Arab Emirates, as well as the exhibition of advanced materials presented by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC). The exhibitions are designed so that professionals in the sector can learn firsthand about innovative solutions such as ecological alternatives to cement, wood, or leather, or palm-based plywood or a graphene-cement tile capable of perceiving pedestrian and vehicle flows, tracking positions, and recognizing gestures.
Likewise, during the show, the Construmat Awards for sustainable and healthy architecture will also be presented, curated by the Mies van der Rohe Foundation, which recognize buildings designed to minimize environmental impact and increase the well-being of users.