The UIA World Congress of Architects 2026, Barcelona

Details

Three decades after hosting the Congress in 1996, Barcelona will once again become the epicentre of global architectural debate and will bring together 250 speakers and 10,000 professionals from more than 130 countries.

Featured speakers include: Lacaton & Vassal, Shigeru Ban, Amateur Architecture Studio, Smiljan Radić, Architecten Jan de Vylder Inge Vinck among others.

The Open Forum will take place in the afternoons on the Three Chimneys esplanade, in an ephemeral structure with a capacity for 1,500 people, as a setting for open exchange bringing together speakers and attendees in a collective debate by the sea.

An exhibition spanning 4,000 square metres will be held, and there will be multiple collateral events; more than 70 itineraries across Barcelona and its surroundings will be deployed, connecting the Congress contents with the territory, including visits to spaces opened exceptionally for the occasion.

Congress Programme

The UIA 2026 Barcelona World Congress of Architects, titled 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 one another, fostering the exchange of knowledge and participation.

Becoming More-than-human explores ecology, ecosystems and climate; Becoming Circular focuses on reuse and the life cycles of buildings; Becoming Embodied analyses material 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 unfold across the venues of the Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB), the Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHub) and the former industrial complex of Three Chimneys in Sant Adrià de Besòs. In addition, the Sagrada Família will host the award ceremony of the UIA Gold Medal and the UIA Triennial Prizes.