The XV edition of the Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (BEAU) has already started with the publication of the calls for participating projects. This year it will be held in parallel in a double venue, the dates for this are from June 28 to September 16 at the Barcelona Pavilion and from July 2 to September 23 in the Patio Herreriano de Valladolid.

This has been convened by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, through the General Directorate of Urban Agenda and Architecture, in collaboration with the Higher Council of the Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE) and the Arquia Foundation.

The theme chosen for this edition refers to the current social debate. It seeks to vindicate the social and cultural value, as well as respect the disciplines in the urban and architectural fields while claiming the role of the architect as a social agent.
Where and when
From June 28 to September 16 at the Barcelona Pavilion, by Mies Van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, and from July 2 to September 23 at the Patio Herreriano in Valladolid, by Juan Ribero Rada, they will host an appointment that brings together the proposals most relevant Spanish architecture and urban planning in the last three years (2018-2020), and which will be curated by a team of architects made up of two studios located in Valladolid and Barcelona: Óscar Miguel Ares, Anna Bach, and Eugeni Bach.
 
Through a complete exhibition program and activities both in its double headquarters and in relevant cultural institutions such as the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona or the Patio Herreriano Museum of Valladolid, the XV BEAU aims to be a meeting place that transcends the strict scope of architecture and urbanism to claim both their social and cultural value as well as the need to respect and care for these disciplines
 
Subject

The XV edition of the Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism will be structured around a theme present in the social debate: empty Spain, full Spain. Reconciliation strategies.

From the most concrete approaches and to the most generic questions —Is an old-age residence proposed in the same way in empty Spain as it is in full one? How should we raise the challenges around housing in both contexts? What should our response be in terms of public space? How should architecture address concepts that have different meanings in both territories? -, the curatorial proposal of the BEAU rests on an integrating vocation between two very different territorial realities and two ways to understand life.

The XV BEAU will thus try to offer an overview that contributes to the rapprochement and reflection on the conciliation capacities that architecture and urban planning may have concerning the two territorial realities that exist in the country; that of a dense, dynamic and populated Spain; and that of another with less density, more invariable and uninhabited. All this, through seven themes: Territory, Society, Sustainability, Gender, Demography, Collectivity, and Economy.

Adapted and itinerant
Both from the point of view of design and the choice of the different venues, the XV BEAU is conceived to be an experience compatible with the current health context and the necessary security measures, with exhibitions held outside and in contact with the environment. ; and designed to be able to adapt, in an itinerant way, to multiple places and contexts, so that it can be extended over time and also show the permeable nature of both the curatorial concept and the design of the proposal.
 
Calls for the XV BEAU
- Panorama of Works of the Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism. Based on criteria of relevance, quality, social and cultural vocation, or innovation, this selection of works will be divided into categories: Selected Works, Finalists and Awarded, as well as Selected Works for the BIAU.
- Research sample. Divided into the categories Products, Research Articles, and Publications.
- Sample of Final Degree Projects. It will select those works that deserve to be highlighted, forming part of the exhibition of Final Degree Projects of the XV BEAU.
- Photography Exhibition. As a novelty, this edition is open to the participation of the general public to show, based on the collection of contemporary snapshots provided, the reality of the territories that make up our geography.

About the curators and jury
The curators of the project will be the architects Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez, Anna Bach, and Eugeni Bach. Along with them, the General Director of Urban Agenda and Architecture Iñaqui Carnicero, the First Vice-President of the Superior Council of the Colleges of Architects of Spain, Marta Vall-Llosera Ferrán, and Naira Montero, architect and patron of the Arquia Foundation will be part of the jury.

Outstanding names in architecture, urban planning, landscaping, or photography will also be members of the jury in the different calls. Specifically: María Castrillo, Carmen Moreno, Alberto Veiga or the internationals Stephen Bates and Véronique Patteeuw —Panorama of Works of the Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism—; Carolina B. García and Santiago de Molina -Research Sample-, Ignacio García Pedrosa and Ariadna Gutiérrez -Sample of Final Degree Projects- as well as Ana Amado and Jordi Bernardó -Photography Sample-.

About the BEAU
The Biennial of Spanish Architecture and Urbanism (BEAU), which has been held since 1991, is an initiative of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA) that aims to recognize and reward a set of high-quality works that can represent the best and most diverse panorama of Spanish architecture and urban planning in the years covered by the call.

The BEAU is part of the Program for the Promotion of Diffusion and Internationalization of Architecture of the General Directorate of Architecture and Urban Agenda, whose strategic goal is to project Spanish architecture as an international benchmark for contemporary architecture that knows how to combine the cultural, historical and artistic identity of its heritage with innovation and modernity.

Their results are collected in an exhibition, where the awarded and finalist works, a catalog, and a series of debates and academic activities are shown. Among the activities that accompany the BEAU, the End-of-Degree Projects Contest has been developed.

Among the directors of the Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism of past editions are: Luis Peña Ganchegui (1991), Pedro Casariego (1993 (, Javier Frechilla Camoiras (1995), Carlos Ferrater Lambarri (1997), Cesar Portela (1999), Manuel de las Casas (2001), Antonio Ortiz García (2003), Dolores Alonso (2005), Flora Pescador (2007), Emilio Tuñón and Luis Moreno Mansilla (2009), Félix Arranz and Joaquín Sabaté (2011), Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique Sobejano (2013), Begoña Díaz-Urgorri, Juan Domingo Santos and Carmen Moreno (2015), and Sara de Giles and José Morales 2018.

Since its inception, other institutions and entities of various kinds have collaborated in the BEAU with the Ministry, and in this edition it has the collaboration of the Junta de Castilla y León, Diputació de Valladolid, Ayuntamiento de Barcelona, Ayuntamiento de Valladolid, Fundación Mies Van der Rohe, Patio Herreriano Museum of Contemporary Spanish Art of Valladolid, Barcelona Building Construmat, Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona, Official College of Architects of Catalonia, Official College of Architects of Castilla y León Este, ETS Arquitectura de Barcelona, ETS Arquitectura La Salle and ETS Arquitectura de Valladolid.

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Venue / Dates
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From June 28 to September 16 at the Barcelona Pavilion and from July 2 to September 23 in the Patio Herreriano de Valladolid.
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Curators
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Óscar Miguel Ares, Anna Bach, and Eugeni Bach.
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Óscar Miguel Ares. Valladolid, 1972. Archtiect from School of Architecture of Valladolid, in 1998. In 2010, he obtained the title of Doctor from the University of Valladolid - for the thesis "GATEPAC 1928-1939" - being his tutor Mr. Juan Antonio Cortés. Since 2013 he is professor of design at the ETS de Arquitectura de Valladolid. He has collaborated, as visiting professor, at ETSA La Salle (Ramón Lluch University, Barcelona), at San Pablo CEU University (Valladolid) and at the School of Design at Al Ghurari University (Dubai, UAE).
 
His texts and works on architectural criticism have been published in different publications as well as by the composition and projects departments of the ETSA Madrid, UPC in Barcelona –with whom he has assiduously collaborated as editor in the publication DC Papers-, ETSA in Seville and ETSA Cartagena. He has given conferences and lectures in Helsinki, Mexico City, Porto, Pamplona, ​​Barcelona, ​​Madrid or Seville. Author of the book: "Alternative Modernity. Transits of form in Spanish architecture (1930-1936)" University of Valladolid (2016).
 
Since March 2012 he has been carrying out his professional work alone, together with the architect Bárbara Arranz, under the Contextos de Arquitectura y Urbanismo brand. As an architect he has won various competitions, his work being awarded at the XIV Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism 2018; work exhibited in the Spanish Pavilion of the XII Biennale di Venezia (May 2021); selected in XI Biennial of Ibero-American Architecture of Architecture and Urbanism Paraguay (October 2019); finalist in the 2018 FAD Awards; finalist in the 2017 Spanish Architecture Awards; selected Enor Awards (2020), Awarded with the American Architecture Prize (New York, 2017, Bilbao 2019); Awarded with the International Architecture Awards 2018 granted by The Chicago Athenaeum / Europeen (Athens, 2018); Awarded with The Plan Award, (Venice 2018, Milan 2019); more than a dozen awards and mentions at the Castilla y León Architecture Awards (2009, 2011, 2016, 2018 and 2020), as well as awarded at the Castilla y León Sustainable Construction Awards (2017 and 2018). His works have been published in numerous national and international magazines, including METALOCUS, Domus, Arquitectura Viva, Tectónica, Hic Arquitectura or Baumeister, On Diseño and he has exhibited in Madrid, Seville, Venice, Paris and New York.

Director, together with Anna and Eugeni Bach, of the XV Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism, "Empty Spain / Full Spain; conciliation strategies", forming part of the different juries of the awarded categories.


2016  2015

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Anna Bach, Nummi, Finland, 1973. Architect from the Helsinki University of Technology (2001) and Master in Project Theory and Practice from ETSAB, UPC. She is a PDI professor at EINA, Barcelona University Center for Design and Art, UAB. His work has been awarded, among others, with the International FAD Award, the FAD Ephemeral Work Award and the FAD Opinion Award on four occasions, as well as Finalist and Selected in the Spanish Biennial and the Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism, Nominated for the European Architecture Mies van der Rohe and exhibited in venues such as the Cité de l'Architecture in Paris or the Spanish Pavilion at the XV Venice Biennale.

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Eugeni Bach, Barcelona, Spain 1974. Architect by the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Barcelona, UPC (1999), Professor of Projects at the ETSAB UPC and the Master EPAI of the ETS Arquitectura La Salle, URL. His work has been awarded, among others, with the International FAD Award, the FAD Award for Ephemeral Work and the FAD of Opinion on four occasions, as well as a Finalist and Selected in the Spanish Biennial and the Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism, Nominated for the Award of European Architecture Mies van der Rohe and exhibited in venues such as the Cité de l'Architecture in Paris or the Spanish Pavilion at the VII and XV Venice Biennale.

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Anna & Eugeni Bach is an architecture studio founded in 1999 by Anna Bach and Eugeni Bach. The study operates in a broad spectrum of design, from urban planning and architecture to interior and object design.

Anna Bach, Nummi, Finland, 1973. Architect by the Helsinki University of Technology, 2001. Visitant professor at 'Taller Vertical' in ESARQ UIC, Barcelona, directed by Duncan Lewis (1999). PDI Professor in EINA – Univeristy Center of Design and Art in Barcelona, Universitat Autónoma de Bellaterra, Barcelona (2008 – currently).

Eugeni Bach, Barcelona, Spain 1974. Architect by the ETSAB, UPC, 1999. Visitant professor at 'Taller Vertical' in ESARQ UIC, Barcelona, directed by Duncan Lewis (1999). Proffesor in the Mies van der Rohe Chair, ETSAB UPC, under the direction of David Chipperfield (2001). Projects Proffesor in La Salle School of Architecture, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona (2005 - currently).
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