The Three Chimneys will be the main venue of the World Architecture Congress

BarcelonaBarcelona will be the first city to host the International Union of Architects (UIA) World Architecture Congress for the second time, from June 28 to July 2, 2026. It is also unprecedented that the issues to be addressed were proposed by a team of architects emerging from an international competition. These are Pau Bajet, Mariona Benedito, Maria Giramé, Tomeu Ramis, Pau Sarquella, Carmen Torres, and José Zabala, and this Monday they have provided new details on how they will unfold their project, titled Becoming. Architectures for a planet in transition: its main venues will be Les Tres Xemeneies in Sant Adrià de Besòs and the Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHub). Likewise, emblematic city locations will also host public events of the congress, such as Montjuïc Castle, which will host the closing ceremony; the Moll de la Marina and the Sagrada Família, where the UIA awards will be presented. It has also been announced that the curators have commissioned 12 research projects, from teams including Atelier Bow-Wow, Colectivo C733, Anna Puigjaner, de Vylder Vinck, and Forensic Architecture. Another of these investigations is Water Parliaments, the proposal by Eva Franch and the TAKK studio that will represent Catalonia at the next Venice Architecture Biennale.The decision to locate the headquarters at Les Tres Xemeneies in Sant Adrià de Besòs and the Barcelona Design Hub (DHub) is well thought out: for the curators, this coastal strip is "of high complexity" because "the essential infrastructures for the metropolis" are found there, and because this area must assume "some of the contemporary challenges of global interest, such as vulnerability to climate change, mass tourism, and migratory fluctuations." Thus, the curators want to highlight that the World Congress "participates in the geopolitical framework represented by the Mediterranean Sea, and wants to show Barcelona as a Mediterranean city in constant transformation, which crystallizes the idea of the city's own construction over time“."The year 2026 represents a relevant milestone for Barcelona, as for a few days it will host the UIA Congress, but also because it has been designated by UNESCO as the World Capital of Architecture", states architect Maria Giramé. On the other hand, regarding the use of time in architecture to which "Becoming" refers, Giramé explains that it consists of "always working from pre-existences, whether they are physical landscapes, cultures, histories or memories of a place, to transform them carefully, taking into account their richness and complexity".

A future of care and solidarity

With their proposal, the curators' objective is to turn Barcelona, as they themselves said when they won the competition, into "an architectural research laboratory", so that the World Congress is not only relevant for architects, but also has a real impact on citizens and the future of the planet. "The gestures of what is to come are careful, attentive and supportive, and bring with them material, political, ecological and poetic interrelationships that lead us to incredible open perspectives," say the curators.

The curators have deployed in their proposal six axes related to today's world problems, among which is the desire to rethink our habits as ecosystems where multiple species coexist in symbiosis (Becoming beyond human). Another (Becoming interdependent), has a political character, and is based on the interconnection between people to foster "social empowerment transitions" through spaces that promote cooperation, care, and solidarity. A third line will be led by tools and actions, including data and AI, which must be promoted to achieve "a hyper-consciousness of our territory and channel changes in our ways of living" (Becoming hyper-concious)

A fourth line will deepen the circularity in architecture (Becoming circular). "Each of them opens up fields of research close to other disciplines, always pivoting on the practice of architecture, with the aim of exploring alternative transitions to traditionally imposed models," says Giramé.

Two of the lines will have a more strictly sectorial character: Becoming embodied will deal with "the material transformation processes of our built environment". This line explores the technologies and techniques of construction processes by incorporating the agency of materials, that is, integrating their environmental, social, and also aesthetic values. And Becoming attunedUNESCO World Capital of Architecture BarcelonaAround 200 international speakers

It is planned that around 200 international speakers will participate in the conferences, debates, and the congress exhibition, about 125 of whom will be chosen by the curatorial team and the scientific committee, and the other 75 will be selected through an open call. Soon, two calls dedicated to students will be opened: an international competition and an international workshop that will host around 150 students. Furthermore, the Congress will be one of the most outstanding events of the World Capital of Architecture Barcelona by UNESCO throughout 2026, as a result of the agreement between the UIA and UNESCO for Barcelona to receive this recognition. On the other hand, regarding attendance, it is expected that around 10,000 people will attend.

This edition of the World Congress of the International Union of Architects (UIA) is organized by the Superior Council of Architects' Colleges of Spain (CSCAE), together with the College of Architects of Catalonia (COAC), and has the institutional support of the Barcelona City Council, the Generalitat, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda (MIVAU). Barcelona hosted the World Congress for the first time in 1996, in an edition remembered for the presence of many of the star architects of the time, such as Frank O. Gehry, Norman Foster, and Peter Eisenmann.