The XV Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism aims to reconcile empty Spain and cities

Barcelona and Valladolid will be the two physical venues for the XV Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (BEAU), which will also have a third virtual venue, adapting to the new context marked by the pandemic. Empty Spain, Full Spain. Conciliation Strategies will be the motto of this meeting, which aims to highlight the social and cultural impact of architecture and urbanism, and aspires to weave complicities between these two territorial realities that exist in the country, opposite and at the same time dependent on each other.

[subscribe_newsletter_esp]

Issues such as aging, housing, and public space will be addressed with empty Spain in mind and also from a more urban perspective. The XV BEAU thus hopes to offer an overview that contributes to bringing together towns that have been left without inhabitants and have fallen into oblivion, and cities that have long faced the problems derived from the excess and saturation of citizens. With this meeting, architecture and urbanism want to position themselves as tools to reconcile both spaces.

In Barcelona, the BEAU will be held at the Barcelona Mies Van der Rohe and Lilly Reich Pavilion, from June 28 to September 16, while in Valladolid it will take place at the Museo Patio Herreriano, by Juan Ribero Rada, from July 2 to September 23. This initiative, promoted by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, has been organized since 1991 with the aim of recognizing and rewarding architectural and urban planning works that best represent the Spanish panorama of the years covered by the call.

The XV biennial covers the period 2018-2020 and the calls for the different modalities that comprise it have just been published. The curatorship of the biennial has been awarded to architects Anna Bach, Eurgeni Bach and Óscar Miguel Ares. They will be in charge of choosing the awarded and finalist works of this edition, which will feature exhibitions, debates and academic activities.