Tag: barcelona | ArchDaily

Green House / Anna & Eugeni Bach

Valentina Díaz — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 19:57:00 +0000

Enjoying being outdoors. Cooking, eating, and sharing the afternoon with friends under the leaves of a dense ficus tree in an open-air room. Turning the existing garden into an other room of the house creates an oasis within the neighborhood where much of the daily activity happens while enjoying the pleasant Mediterranean climate.

Apartamento Cu4tro / Dröm Living

Valentina Díaz — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 19:24:00 +0000

Designed by Dröm Living for architects Laura and Felipe, Apartment Cu4tro represents a thoughtful transformation of an 80 m² Barcelona apartment into a serene family refuge. The project emerged from the couple's need to create a functional home that could accommodate their hectic professional lives while providing a calm environment for their two children.

UIA World Congress 2026 and Henning Larsen's New Environmental Analysis Platform: This Week's Review

Reyyan Dogan — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 06:30:00 +0000

Recent events highlighted the many ways architecture responds to changing environmental, social, and cultural conditions. Major earthquakes in Venezuela, Japan, and Northern California renewed attention to the role of planning, infrastructure, and building practices in shaping resilience to natural hazards. As these questions continue to inform the built environment, the opening of the 2026 UIA World Congress of Architects in Barcelona brought together practitioners and researchers to discuss climate, housing, public space, and the future of the profession. Recent project announcements, preservation initiatives, completed works, and new design tools further reflected the range of approaches shaping architectural practice today, from heritage conservation and adaptive reuse to environmental performance and long-term planning.

Eduardo Souto de Moura Receives UIA Gold Medal at Ceremony Held in Sagrada Família, Barcelona

Reyyan Dogan — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 06:30:00 +0000

On June 30, 2026, Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura received the 2026 UIA Gold Medal, the highest distinction awarded by the International Union of Architects, during a ceremony held at the Basílica de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona. Presented as part of the 2026 UIA World Congress of Architects, taking place from June 28 to July 2, the award recognizes Souto de Moura's sustained contribution to architecture through a body of work defined by contextual sensitivity, material precision, and a lasting influence on contemporary architectural culture.

“What is This? A Spa, a Gym, a Zoo for Tiny Animals?” Explores the Fundació Mies van der Rohe Archive in Barcelona

Reyyan Dogan — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 06:30:00 +0000

The exhibition What is This? A Spa, a Gym, a Zoo for Tiny Animals? is on view at the Palau Victòria Eugènia in Barcelona from May 11 to July 5, 2026. Organized by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe and curated by Anna Sala and Ivan Blasi, the exhibition presents the institution's archive through a new curatorial framework, bringing together architectural models, drawings, documents, films, and records of artistic interventions that have taken place at the Barcelona Pavilion since 1986. Open daily with free admission, the exhibition invites visitors to engage with the archive as both a historical collection and an evolving record of architectural discourse.

Architectural Decisions, Planetary Implications: Interview with UIA 2026 Barcelona Curatorial Team

Romullo Baratto — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Barcelona is the first city in the history of the UIA World Congress of Architects to host the event twice. The 1996 edition, Present and Futures: Architecture in Cities, arrived at a charged moment, when the post-Olympic city was consolidating an urban model that would become one of the most studied and contested in contemporary urbanism, and when architecture was learning to think through the large metropolis as its primary site of inquiry. Thirty years later, the same city reopens the question under a different condition: one in which the built environment can no longer be understood as a self-contained object, but only through the wider ecological, material, and political systems that sustain it. The theme of the 2026 Congress — Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition — does not abandon the urban concerns of 1996; it reopens them from a planetary scale.

UIA World Congress of Architecture 2026 Opens in Barcelona Under the Theme "Architectures for a Planet in Transition"

Antonia Piñeiro — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 05:30:00 +0000

The UIA 2026, the 29th edition of the triennial international event for architectural dialogue organised by the International Union of Architects, has opened its doors on Sunday, June 28th, with an inaugural event held at Three Chimneys, a former power plant in Sant Adrià de Besòs. Each Congress focuses on a pressing topic relevant to the profession, articulated through a central theme. The topic for 2026 is "Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition," calling for a broad and critical overview of the possible futures of architecture. The event runs through July 2, 2026, as a distributed event across multiple venues and urban contexts. With a multidisciplinary approach, Barcelona, the UNESCO World Capital of Architecture 2026, is set to become a global laboratory and hub for debating forthcoming ecological, social, material, and cultural transitions.

Barcelona Architecture City Guide: 30 Buildings and Places from Gaudí to Today

Valentina Díaz — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Barcelona is a city where architecture has long served as a laboratory of urban experimentation, each era leaving its mark on the city's fabric. From the dense streets of the Gothic Quarter to the ornate interiors of the Palau de la Música Catalana, the city expanded outward through Ildefons Cerdà's Eixample, a stage where Gaudí and his contemporaries challenged the rules of form, scale, and ornamentation. These experiments defined a local identity and culminated in the Sagrada Família, a vision that continues into the 21st century through the integration of advanced technology.

The History of the UIA World Congress of Architecture and the Cities That Shaped It

Moises Carrasco — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Every three years, the International Union of Architects' (UIA) World Congress lands in a different city, under a different theme set years in advance. A quick mapping of these host cities reveals a deliberate pattern: throughout the decades, the UIA has purposefully chosen a wide range of venues across all continents, rendering each edition a snapshot of what mattered in that specific place, at that exact moment. The result of this geographic rotation has been a diverse kaleidoscope of conversations, analyzing the profession from countless angles and adapting it to changing times. But 2026 is different; this time the UIA is repeating a host city for the first time: Barcelona, under the theme "Becoming. Architectures for a planet in transition".

Architectural Recognition and New Projects Around the World: This Week's Review

Reyyan Dogan — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 06:30:00 +0000

This week's coverage brought together a range of news, projects, and announcements from across the architectural world. Stories included conversations ahead of the UIA World Congress 2026, where architects, critics, and award organizers are set to discuss the evolving role of architectural recognition, alongside BIG's proposal for a new university campus in Bentonville, Arkansas. The week also featured updates on major public and cultural projects, from the redevelopment of New York's Penn Station to the ongoing transformation of London's Olympia and the completion of a new cultural center in Dongguan, China. It also marked the passing of Lorcan O'Herlihy, founder of LOHA, whose practice became known for its commitment to housing, urban density, and socially engaged design across Los Angeles and beyond.

Stitching Edges: Marinas as Instruments of Reconnection between City and Water

Camilla Ghisleni — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 04:00:00 +0000

The land-water interface has always played a fundamental role in the formation and development of cities. From ancient commercial ports to today's multifunctional waterfronts, maritime and riverfront areas represent spaces of immense economic and social potential. Within this context, contemporary nautical complexes increasingly serve as strategic urban amenities capable of integrating diverse activities, fostering a reconnection between city and water, and revitalizing often underutilized landscapes.

Architecture Awards Must Evolve: A Debate on Their Role and Responsibility at the UIA World Congress 2026

Antonia Piñeiro — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 05:30:00 +0000

A collective discussion titled "Beyond Recognition: Exploring the Role of Architectural Awards" is taking place on June 29 in Barcelona, on the occasion of the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026. The debate starts from the conviction that, in today's context of accelerating global challenges, the role of architectural awards must evolve. The event follows the conversation initiated during the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, where the relevance of awards was questioned, paving the way for a new conversation on how architectural awards can contribute to shaping practice, institutions, and public discourse. The discussion sessions are convened by representatives of major international awards: the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Ammodo Architecture Award, EUmies Awards, Holcim Foundation Awards, Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize, and the OBEL Award, and are joined by prominent figures in the field of architecture and design.

Contemplative Drama: How Gaudí Shaped Light and Color at Sagrada Família

Thomas Schielke — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 07:30:00 +0000

It is afternoon in the summer, and the nave of the Sagrada Família is saturated with warm colors. Shafts of amber and crimson sweep across the stone floor, shift as a cloud passes over Barcelona, then deepen again. Around you, visitors slow without quite realizing it. Some raise their phones — not to capture the architecture, but to step into the light itself, positioning themselves in a pool of orange or gold as if the colours were something you could wear.

The Metrics We Use Decide the Cities We Build: Urban Indicators and Lived Experience

Ankitha Gattupalli — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Modern cities are running on performance indicators. They move millions of people each day, concentrate capital, separate land uses, and sustain complex systems of logistics and consumption. In that sense, the city functions as a system to be continually adjusted and optimized.

Diagonal Apartment / De la Villa Studio

Valentina Díaz — Thu, 28 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

The flat is situated on the iconic Avinguda Diagonal, one of Barcelona's main arteries that crosses the city obliquely, connecting different neighborhoods and offering a vivid panorama of its urban evolution. This location not only guarantees accessibility, but also lends a representative character to the project, framed by a dynamic and cosmopolitan environment, with shopping centers, design shops, and offices of key companies in the life of the city.

WUF13 in Baku and Stefano Boeri’s Ambrosian Monastery in Milan: This Week’s Review

Reyyan Dogan — Thu, 14 May 2026 06:30:00 +0000

As global urban challenges intensify alongside growing environmental, social, and cultural pressures, this week's news reflects how institutions, exhibitions, and restoration projects are highlighting the relationship between the built environment and collective experience. From international forums addressing housing insecurity and urban resilience to cultural events examining memory, identity, and spatial perception, positioning architecture as both a framework for policy and a medium for critical reflection. At the same time, major restoration and redevelopment initiatives highlight a renewed focus on preserving historical continuity while adapting heritage sites and cultural institutions to contemporary forms of use, accessibility, and public engagement.

The Productive Clash: Heritage Interiors, Contemporary Projects, and the Value of Imperfection

Jonathan Yeung — Thu, 14 May 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Heritage, in interiors, is increasingly rarer to be only a matter of preservation alone. More often it arrives as friction: the encounter between what a building already is—its plan logic, its scars, its structural inconsistencies—and what contemporary life demands of it.

Antoni Gaudí’s Last Original Residence at Casa Batlló Opens Following Three-Year Restoration

Reyyan Dogan — Wed, 13 May 2026 06:30:00 +0000

Casa Batlló in Barcelona has unveiled the restored Third Floor of the building, opening the last original residence preserved from Antoni Gaudí's 1904-1906 transformation of the property to the public for the first time. Led by restoration architect Xavier Villanueva and developed over three years through an archaeological-style conservation process, the intervention recovers a largely intact domestic environment that had remained inhabited by descendants of the Batlló family for more than a century. Adapted into a series of private rooms for gatherings, cultural events, and experiences, the restored apartment combines heritage preservation with a contemporary interior design intervention by Paola Navone – OTTO Studio, establishing a new program for one of Barcelona's most recognized architectural landmarks.