Congress Program
The UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona "Becoming: Architectures for a Planet in Transition" is structured around six thematic axes that address the main contemporary challenges of architecture from multiple scales and disciplines. Beyond a sequential format, it is conceived as a layered experience in which different formats—plenary sessions, lectures, debates, research presentations, workshops, and open forums—coexist and reinforce each other, fostering knowledge exchange and participation.
Becoming More-than-human explores ecology, ecosystems, and climate; Becoming Circular focuses on reuse and building life cycles; Becoming Embodied analyzes materials technologies; Becoming Interdependent reflects on spatial policies, housing, and public space; Becoming Hyper-Conscious examines data, geopolitics, and legislation; and Becoming Attuned focuses on poetics, aesthetics, and culture.
The Congress will take place at the Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB), the Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHub), and the former industrial complex of Las Tres Chimeneas in Sant Adrià de Besòs. Additionally, the Sagrada Familia will host the UIA Gold Medal and Triennial Prizes awards ceremony.
On June 29 and 30 and July 1, the CCIB will host the majority of the Congress's conference program, which is notable for the quality and diversity of its speakers. The panel brings together voices from around the world and is a balanced representation in terms of territory, generation, and gender, in line with the aim of creating a broad and pluralistic space for debate. It integrates both established studies and emerging practices, highlighting profiles that combine research, innovation, and a commitment to current challenges. Among the speakers are renowned figures who have received the Pritzker Prize: Lacaton & Vassal, Shigeru Ban, Amateur Architecture Studio, and the most recent winner in 2016, Smiljan Radić. Also participating are the most recent winners of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award, Architecten Jan de Vylder Inge Vinck, along with past winners such as the aforementioned Lacaton & Vassal, Lacol, and Arquitectura G.
Participation formats include presentations in plenary sessions moderated by critical critics, lectures, debates between two or three speakers, roundtables, workshops for students, a large exhibition open to the public, and an official Congress catalog.
Curatorial team, UIA BCN26. Photograph by Silvia Poch.
Dialogue and Research
The importance of dialogue and research as fundamental elements for the approach that the architectures of the future must adopt in the face of planetary changes is a recurring theme throughout the Congress.
The dialogue between two speakers will be the chosen format to delve into the vision and working processes of the presenters. For example, two international leaders in landscape architecture, Kate Orff and Drik Sijmons, will discuss the relationship with the sea, rivers, and the key role of water for society and biodiversity; Forensic Architecture and the Center for Spatial Technologies will talk about how architecture can play a fundamental role in understanding geopolitical conflicts.
In the plenary sessions, the figure of the Critical Antagonist is introduced, with the aim of questioning dominant narratives and challenging the speakers. Twelve prominent figures in their fields of research will participate, such as the philosopher Timothy Morton, the Bangladeshi architect and two-time Aga Khan Award winner Marina Tabassum, and the Spanish architect Juan Herreros.
The Congress also incorporates the role of hosts, who will introduce and moderate the sessions. These are approximately 100 Spanish architects whose participation will provide a situated perspective, linking global debates with the evolution of national contexts and allowing for an understanding of how the city and architectural practice have changed from 1996 to the present.
The Open Forum will be an innovative format held in the afternoons on the esplanade of the Three Chimneys, an open space facing the sea that will serve as a stage for open exchange and collective debate. Through the construction of various ephemeral elements—all rented and generating no waste—a series of platforms will be configured, including a grandstand with a capacity for 1,500 people, as well as service areas and a bar. All the speakers will meet in the same space, extending the day's conversations and blurring the lines between audience and participants.
The Research by Design format explores new ways of intervening in existing structures from experimental and critical approaches. Twelve practices are conducting groundbreaking research addressing some of the most pressing challenges, such as access to housing and the climate crisis. HouseEurope! with Brandlhuber+ places the transformation of the existing building stock at the heart of the European debate, while voices like Anna Puigjaner's, along with Care., MAIO, and Pol Esteve, reflect on inclusive architecture that redefines domestic structures from a feminist perspective. Meanwhile, studios like Baukunst, together with Structural Xploration Lab, one of the winners of the BIT Habitat mineral challenge, explore material reuse and urban mining.
Metropolitan and regional itineraries and maritime connections
One of the Congress's most unique features is its expanded scope. The itinerary program unfolds across more than 70 circuits, curated by the AMOO studio, that explore Barcelona and its surroundings, connecting the six themes of Becoming: Architectures for a Planet in Transition with concrete interventions. These interventions demonstrate that the concerns and debates expressed at the Congress, while constantly evolving, have always been present in architectural practice.
From June 25 to July 5, 2026, metropolitan, territorial, and maritime itineraries will be activated, including visits to iconic spaces—works by masters of Catalan Modernism such as Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol—as well as leading contemporary works by Enric Miralles and Ricardo Bofill, and award-winning interventions by H Arquitectes, Flores & Prats, Lacol, and Cierto Estudio, including spaces that will be exceptionally opened for the Congress. The planned Becoming (metropolitan) itineraries include tours focused on the transformation of urban infrastructure and the renaturalization of the landscape, such as visits to the Besòs River Park and the landscape restoration of Vall d'en Joan; routes that examine how art can activate new interpretations of everyday space, including Casa Casas-Carbó and Espai Corberó; or visits to new models of public housing in the metropolitan area, with examples such as Illa Glòries and the Fabra i Coats Social Housing complex. A unique and playful route is the maritime connection, which proposes exploring Barcelona from the sea aboard the popular "Golondrinas" boats, a nod to the sometimes conflicted relationship between the city and tourism through an activity that was emblematic of leisure for the working classes before the Olympics. Among the regional itineraries, one example is the Manresa-Berga axis, linked to the course of the Llobregat River and its rehabilitated industrial heritage, which will allow visitors to see the transformation of the Vapor Cortès factory in Terrassa or the Alícia Foundation space in Sant Fruitós de Bages.
Free activities open to the public
The Central Exhibition, covering more than 4,000 m², will host the presentation of the results of the Research by Design program at Las Tres Chimeneas (The Three Chimneys), materialized in models, prototypes, audiovisual pieces, and full-scale installations. It will also include the results of the International Emerging Workshop and a selection of projects from the UNESCO-UIA student competition. The exhibition will be complemented by a visual archive of built projects and published works by the speakers at each Becoming event. It will be open to the public from June 19 to 27 and from July 3 to 19.
The DHub will host the free exhibition of the UIA Member Sections, with representation from 54 countries showcasing the best of their contemporary architecture, including a selection from Spain located in the CSCAE space. This venue will also host one of the most important exhibitions of Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture, dedicated to Catalan architecture, creating a link between global practices and the local context.
The week before the Congress (June 19 to 27) will kick off with international workshops that will bring together approximately 180 students and young architects. Conceived as an intensive space for work and experimentation, these workshops will broaden the program's scope by incorporating a pedagogical and applied research dimension. They will take place at Las Tres Chimeneas and will be led by renowned studios and collectives such as the British firm Assemble, the Spanish collective BeAr, the architecture association TEN, and the Franco-Chilean studio Plan Común, among others. Together, they will form a diverse learning environment, closely linked to the Congress's research themes, integrating new generations into knowledge production and contemporary architectural debate. The workshop will culminate in an exhibition of the results and a series of free, public lectures on June 24, 25, and 26.
The central exhibition, along with this lecture series and the programming planned at the Dhub, will bring the Congress's content to a wider audience, fostering dialogue and debate within the city.
Opening, Closing, and Side Events
The opening and closing events will be grand celebrations of architecture, produced by the artist duo Cabosanroque and Estudio Cube. These events will integrate architecture, music, and sound experimentation in two moments that will mark the beginning and end of the Congress. The closing ceremony will include the passing of the torch to the next host city, Beijing, in 2029.
The Congress also features side events, including the CICA (Committee of Architectural Critics) meeting and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group meeting. The full program of these events will be announced in the coming weeks, and the Congress website will highlight some of the parallel events taking place in the city.
