Ecology in architecture requires moving beyond the use of nature solely as a means of extraction. It calls for the exploration of resilient and adaptive strategies for transforming cities and territories, addressing climate, water management, soil and biodiversity.
In contrast to the linear production model, we must move towards practices grounded in spatial, material and energy cycles. Priority is given to the rehabilitation of the existing built heritage, promoting proximity, energy efficiency and resource economy in order to reduce carbon footprints.
Material research engages with construction processes and fabrication technologies, integrating their environmental values, social impact and expressive qualities. At the same time, it explores their structural potential, assembly systems and adaptability over time.
Architecture requires spatial policies that promote the right to housing, gender perspective and interdependence. It entails rethinking forms of coexistence based on care, cooperation and solidarity as drivers of social empowerment.
Planetary-scale dynamics — geopolitical relations, legislative frameworks, digitalisation and AI — shape local realities and influence everyday life. Developing a critical awareness invites exploration of their implications and potentials for spatial practice.
Architecture explores its poetic dimension, attentive to material, cultural and affective contexts. Through a sensitive and playful lens, it embraces unexpected forms of beauty, the ordinary and composition as generative principles for design and for the meaning of dwelling.
Calendar
Inauguration of the Central Exhibition Three Chimneys
International Emerging Workshop Three Chimneys
Opening Ceremony Three Chimneys
Becoming More-than-human
Becoming Circular
Congress Sessions CCIB
UIA Working Bodies. Exhibition, lectures, and seminars CCIB
UIA Member Sections Exhibition DHub
Collateral Events Various locations
Central Exhibition Three Chimneys
Open Forum Sessions Three Chimneys
Student Competition Awards Ceremony Three Chimneys
Becoming Embodied
Becoming Interdependent
Congress Sessions CCIB
UIA Working Groups. Exhibitions, conferences, and seminars CCIB
UIA Member Sections Exhibition DHub
Collateral Events Various Locations
Central Exhibition Three Chimneys
Open Forum Sessions Three Chimneys
UIA Triennial Awards Sagrada Familia
Becoming Hyper-conscious
Becoming Attuned
Congress Sessions Three Chimneys
UIA Working Groups. Exhibitions, Conferences, and Seminars CCIB
UIA Member Sections Exhibition DHub
Collateral Events Various Locations
Central Exhibition Three Chimneys
Open Forum Sessions Three Chimneys
Congress Final Night Three Chimneys
Gala Dinner Montjuïc Castle
UIA own Awards and Closing Ceremony CCIB
UIA Member Sections Exhibition DHub
Central Exhibition Three Chimneys
UIA World Congress
of Architects
2026 Barcelona
A unique international event that transcends disciplinary and geographical boundaries, the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona brings together renowned architects, researchers, and influential figures from multiple fields to promote the exchange and production of knowledge.
Held in different cities every three years since 1948, during post-war reconstruction, the 29th edition will unfold along Barcelona’s seafront.
With the theme Becoming. Architectures for a planet in transition, the event focuses on speculative, qualitative inquiries to explore material, political, ecological, and poetic interrelations. The Congress features a diverse array of events, including lectures, workshops, debates, exhibitions, visits and celebrations, all designed to encourage architectural dialogue and the sharing of perspectives.
Becoming.
Architectures for
a planet in transition
Becoming explores spatial practices that foster the appropriation and transformation of our inhabited environments —both human and more-than-human, individual and collective— by investigating the potential of time as a design tool. Rejecting the notion of tabula rasa, it is rooted in a deep awareness of pre-existing physical and cultural landscapes, curating transitions through material, political, ecological, and poetic interrelations.
In an effort to move beyond the depletion of capitalist-driven paradigms, Becoming poses challenges that suggest alternative prospects: six thematic research lines frame these explorations, inviting open-ended, intersecting investigations into what it means to design for a world in transition.