Browsing: Barcelona

The Barcelona Institute of Architecture (BIArch) is an international institution set up to further interaction between academic research, specialized practice and the cultural dissemination of contemporary architecture. Occupying a space midway between schools of architecture and professional praxis, BIArch is an open laboratory for professionals and researchers that aims to promote new ways of thinking and acting for a technological, energy and economic reality in permanent flux.

Their next seminar is “Energy”, and it will be held next October 30-31, at BIArch (La Pedrera, Passeig de Gracia 92, Barcelona, Spain). All sessions will be in English. Access is free but limited. Registration is is required for attendance at info@biarch.eu. The seminar is directed by Agustí Obiol.

Today at 11.00 AM took place the laying of the foundation stone of what will be the new iconic building in the area of Barcelona’s Forum, the Spiral Tower. This university campus will be located at the end of Avenida Diagonal, one of the main avenues of Barcelona, beside the Forum building designed by Herzog & de Meuron for the Forum of Cultures held in 2004.

Zaha Hadid came around 11:15 and the event had an intense political presence (the Mayor of Barcelona Jordi Hereu, mayors from areas like Maresme and Besós and key representatives of the Consorsi). The building, located at the confluence of streets Taulat and Sant Ramon de Penyafort, will have a ground surface of 20,650 sqm.

Hadid’s speech was short, she recalled his first trip to Spain when she was 7 years and then she talked about a competition in which she participated 20 years ago, related to the design and extension of the Diagonal Avenue. At that moment she had the opportunity for a better understanding about the urban development of Barcelona and [as she said there] it has been a big influence on the design of the Spiral Tower.

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The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia and HP are pleased to announce the 3rd Advanced Architecture Contest, on the theme of THE SELF-SUFFICIENT CITY: Envisioning the habitat of the future.

The aim of the competition is to promote online discussion and research through which to generate insights and visions, ideas and proposals that help us envisage what the city and the habitat of the 21st century will be like.

The competition is open to architects, planners, designers and artists who want to contribute to progress in making the world more habitable by developing a proposal capable of responding to emerging challenges in areas such as ecology, information technology, socialization and globalization, with a view to enhancing the connected self-sufficiency of our cities.

For more information, go to the competition’s official website.