Spanish Architecture Festival (FAE) 2025
September 4–5 · Mexico City
This September, Mexico City will become the epicenter of Spanish-language architecture with the 2025 edition of the Spanish Architecture Festival, an international gathering celebrating contemporary thought and practice.
Over two days, key voices in global architecture will gather at iconic sites of Mexican modern heritage to tour, inhabit, and reflect upon them through shared experience.
A curated architectural experience.
Designed as an intimate gathering, the Festival offers close access to its international guests: direct conversations, guided tours of Modern Movement works, and moments of connection where dialogue transcends the professional.
It is not just about talking about architecture, but about inhabiting it, exploring it in company, and sharing it through experience.
The program is framed by an exclusive multi-course meal prepared by chef Miguel Sánchez Navarro—creator of CARDO—accompanied by cocktails, with transportation included to facilitate the experience.
Venues
September 4 – Los Manantiales, Xochimilco
The first day will take place at the iconic Los Manantiales, a work by Félix Candela nestled among the canals of Xochimilco. This reinforced concrete shell—one of the architect's most emblematic structures—stands as a symbol of 20th-century structural experimentation and formal beauty.
September 5 – Bacardí Plant, Tultitlán
The second day moves to the Bacardí Plant in the State of Mexico, an exceptional enclave that brings together two key works of the Modern Movement: the bottling plant designed by Félix Candela and the office building designed by Mies van der Rohe. A setting where industrial architecture becomes a manifesto.
International Guests
FAE 2025 will bring together essential voices in contemporary architecture to share their trajectories, processes, and visions:
● Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA, Japan)
2010 Pritzker Prize laureate, co-founder of SANAA, and author of iconic works such as the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art and the Teshima Art Museum.
● Jimenez Lai (Bureau Spectacular, USA)
Architect and artist recognized for experimental installations and a narrative approach that rethinks how we inhabit space.
● Cristina Díaz Moreno and Efrén García Grinda (Amid.cero9, Spain)
Founders of the influential Madrid-based studio and professors at institutions such as Harvard, Princeton, and the University of Applied Arts Vienna.
● Mauricio Rocha (Taller Mauricio Rocha, Mexico)
Winner of the 2023 Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize, author of works such as the Anahuacalli Museum expansion and the San Pablo Academic and Cultural Center.
Félix Candela Award Ceremony — Volume 7
September 5, during FAE 2025
As part of the festival, the Félix Candela Award will be presented, an international competition of ideas in Spanish organized by IESARQ. Aimed at students and young professionals in architecture, landscape, urbanism, and design, the award recognizes conceptual proposals with a philosophical, critical, and culturally relevant perspective on contemporary challenges.
Unlike traditional competitions, it does not seek buildable projects, but rather ideas with depth, creativity, and critical intelligence. Selected proposals will be featured in publications and exhibitions associated with the award and will be recognized internationally as part of a new generation of visionary and committed voices.
Volume 7 Theme — BABEL
In a world marked by hyper-individuality, ego, and fragmentation, BABEL invites us to imagine spaces of ecumenical encounter that transcend the local: an architecture that fosters spiritual openness through the other, a threshold toward contemplation, community, and collective meditation.
The competition closed its call for entries in July and is currently in the deliberation phase. The awards ceremony will take place on September 5, during the Festival's closing at the Bacardí Plant.
