In 2026, Barcelona will become the World Capital of Architecture, a designation jointly promoted by UNESCO and the International Union of Architects (UIA) that recognizes cities committed to using architecture as a key tool to improve people’s quality of life and address the major urban challenges of our time.
Over the course of ten months, the city will host a wide-ranging programme open to all audiences across its ten districts, developed with the participation of more than 170 organizations and institutions. Exhibitions, guided tours, debates, workshops, educational activities, and contemporary culture events will transform Barcelona into a vibrant meeting point for architecture, culture, and citizenship.
The programme invites residents and visitors alike to explore how architecture shapes the spaces we inhabit, influences everyday life, and helps imagine more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient futures. Taking place alongside the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026, the World Capital of Architecture programme expands opportunities for reflection, discovery, and participation, placing Barcelona at the heart of the international architectural conversation.
Barcelona 2035. A City for Living in
The exhibition presents the major transformations that Barcelona is promoting with a 2035 horizon, coinciding with its designation as World Capital of Architecture. It showcases the strategic projects currently under way and their impact on quality of life in the neighbourhoods from a metropolitan perspective. Through these various projects, the exhibition reveals a Barcelona under construction, with the aim of becoming more liveable, prosperous, cohesive and better connected.
Authors: Ajuntament de Barcelona.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Casa de l’Arquitectura de Barcelona.
District: Eixample.
Dates:
Start: 08/05/2026
End: 13/12/2027
Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí (1891–1981). Lessons in Landscape
The exhibition invites visitors to discover the work and thinking of Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí, an architect, urban planner and landscape designer. The tour is structured around a series of “lessons” that remain fully relevant today, revealing his critical outlook, artistic sensibility and commitment to the city, while exploring themes such as open spaces, the garden, criticism and his travels.
Authors: Josep Mascaró, Montse Rivero, Víctor Díaz-Asensio García, Marina Cervera and Enric Batlle.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Palau del Marquès d’Alfarràs.
District: Horta-Guinardó.
Dates:
Start: 04/07/2026
End: 27/09/2026
Revisiting the FAD Awards. Urban Itinerary along Diagonal and Les Corts
An urban itinerary along Avinguda Diagonal and through Les Corts, with commentary and visits to buildings that have been winners, finalists and selected projects in the FAD Awards for Architecture and Interior Design across its 67 editions.
Authors: Arquin-FAD.
Type: Route.
Location: Les Corts.
District: Les Corts.
Dates:
18/06/2026. 17:30 – 20:00
BARRIBARCELONA: Open Barri Summer Edition
Vallvidrera and the hillside neighbourhoods: from summer retreats to a permanent residential area.
Authors: Associació Cultural 48h Open House Barcelona.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Casa de l’Arquitectura de Barcelona.
District: Eixample.
Dates:
Start: 02/06/2026
End: 28/06/2026
Opening hours: 10:00 – 19:00
Open Barri Summer
Open Barri is a cultural and architectural initiative by the association 48h Open House Barcelona that, within the framework of the 2026 World Capital of Architecture, opens doors and conversations across three areas of Barcelona over fifteen days through talks, workshops, and debates, culminating in an open-house weekend.
The summer edition of Open Barri in Sarrià and Vallvidrera is the final edition, taking place from June 15 to 28, coinciding with the dates of the congress of the Unió Internacional d’Arquitectes. The programme of this event places a strong emphasis on working directly with neighbourhoods and local communities.
Authors: Associació Cultural 48h Open House Barcelona.
Type: Route.
Location: Sarrià-Sant Gervasi.
District: Sarrià-Sant Gervasi.
Dates:
Start: 27/06/2026
End: 28/06/2026
Opening hours: 11:00 – 19:30
Architecture Festivals in July. Guided Tour of the Llars Mundet Complex
Within the framework of the 10 Architecture Festivals, which aim to highlight the social role of architects, emphasize the value of heritage and territory, and promote a more conscious relationship with the built environment, we propose guided tours of the Llars Mundet complex to discover its history, architecture and relationship with the city.
Meeting point: Mundet metro station (L3).
Authors: Col·legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya.
Type: Route.
Location: Recinte Mundet.
District: Horta-Guinardó.
Dates:
11/07/2026. 10:30 – 12:00
From Miró to Solano
The COAC is presenting an exhibition at its Plaça Nova headquarters that brings together art, architecture and the city. The show revisits the spirit of “Miró, the Other” (1969) through a documentary section and a new artistic intervention by Susana Solano, which enters into dialogue with Miró and Picasso and reimagines the building as a living space open to the public.
Authors: Col·legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya / Centre Obert d’Arquitectura.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Col·legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya.
District: Ciutat Vella.
Dates:
Start: 12/06/2026
End: 15/07/2026
Seny i Rauxa. A Report on Catalan Architecture
The exhibition showcases the best of recent Catalan architecture and traces a continuous thread from 1875 to the present day. With a thematic structure that sets works in dialogue and explores the seny–rauxa duality, it brings together nearly four hundred pieces—ranging from architectural materials to artistic creations—to offer a renewed view of this shared legacy.
Authors: Joan Roig, Carme Ribas, Victoria Garriga.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Disseny Hub Barcelona.
District: Sant Martí.
Dates:
Start: 22/05/2026
End: 06/09/2026
Visit to Casa Moratiel and the Exhibition The Seven Lives of Casa Moratiel
Guided visits to Casa Moratiel, designed by Josep Maria Sostres (1957), a key work of Catalan rationalism, and to the exhibition tracing the building’s seven life stages, showing how architecture can adapt to change without losing its essential values.
Authors: Càtedra Batlleiroig–UPC.
Type: Route.
Location: Casa Moratiel.
District: Outside Barcelona.
Dates:
18/06/2026. 15:00 – 20:00
29/06/2026. 09:00 – 20:00
30/06/2026. 09:00 – 20:00
01/07/2026. 09:00 – 20:00
02/07/2026. 09:00 – 20:00
16/07/2026. 15:00 – 20:00
The Making of the Metropolis
The exhibition presents the evolution of Barcelona’s urban region through the main planning frameworks and their impact. It aims to show metropolitan growth and to raise awareness of the value of planning in addressing urban challenges at each moment—especially now, marking the 50th anniversary of the Pla General Metropolità.
Authors: Antonio Font, Carles Llop, Miquel Corominas and Joaquim Sabaté.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Museu Marítim de Barcelona.
District: Ciutat Vella.
Dates:
Start: 14/05/2026
End: 06/09/2026
The City We Want Exhibition
The City We Want is an annual project in which children from all districts imagine and design the Barcelona of the future through architecture workshops. The process culminates in a public exhibition, accompanied by a scale model of the whole city and an open day of discussion.
Authors: Associació Transita.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Ajuntament de Barcelona.
District: Ciutat Vella.
Dates:
Start: 06/06/2026
End: 04/07/2026
Opening hours: 10:00 – 19:00
Training Workshop for Educators: Collserola Resilience Thinking Walkshops. Learnings from Art, Urbanism and Resilience
Collserola Resilience Thinking Walkshop: The Paths of Water in Barcelona is a science-art outreach initiative that invites participants to rediscover the relationship between Barcelona and the Collserola mountain range—the coastal range that embraces the city—through a central element: water. Activity linked to Eina Porta de Collserola with SITESIZE, Francesc Magrinyà and Rafael de Balanzó.
Authors: EINA, Centre Universitari i Art de Barcelona.
Type: Workshop.
Location: Casal de Barri Can Carol.
District: Gràcia.
Dates:
07/07/2026. 10:00 – 13:00
Award-Winning Architecture. 125 Years of Architecture Awards
Award-Winning Architecture. 125 Years of Architecture Awards traces the history of the FAD Awards and their antecedents since the late 19th century. A look at the works that have transformed Barcelona and the country, with photographs, documents and audiovisual materials that chart the evolution of our architecture.
Authors: Arquin-FAD.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Oliva Artés. Museu d’Història de Barcelona.
District: Sant Martí.
Dates:
Start: 25/06/2026
End: 27/09/2026
Building Emotions. Encounters between Cinema and Architecture
Cinema and architectures that speak to the human condition.
Authors: BARQ Festival.
Type: Debate and Conference.
Location: MACBA.
District: Ciutat Vella.
Dates:
09/07/2026. 19:00 – 21:00
Atlas Re-edificatòria
Atlas Re-edificatòria is an exhibition that brings into dialogue photographs of architectural works under construction with pieces by contemporary artists from Catalonia and across Spain—mainly sculptures and installations—to reveal shared approaches, languages and interests between construction practice and artistic practice.
Authors: Adrià Goula Sardà and Alexandra Laudo.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Palau del Marquès d’Alfarràs.
District: Horta-Guinardó.
Dates:
Start: 19/06/2026
End: 27/09/2026
Socio-emotional Refuge
A proposal for an ephemeral installation to activate the square as a space for gathering, visibility and mutual recognition among neighbourhood communities. The project aims to be the start of a sustained social relationship—a prototype for collaboration that can grow over time and strengthen community ties and the shaping of a new identity for the 22@ district.
Authors: LCI Barcelona. Escola Superior SLU.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: LCI Campus.
District: Sant Martí.
Dates:
Start: 01/06/2026
End: 31/07/2026
Opening hours: 09:00 – 19:00
Gestating and Dwelling. Strategies for Social Housing in Barcelona
Gestating and Dwelling is a space for individual and collective reflection on the role of social housing in building a fairer and more sustainable society, gathering and inviting all voices to take part in imagining a future in our cities where housing never ceases to be a fundamental right for everyone.
Authors: LLINDAR ARQUITECTURA SLP.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Centre d’Art Tecla Sala.
District: Outside Barcelona.
Dates:
Start: 09/07/2026
End: 09/11/2026
Barcelona, Paper Architectures – The Three Chimneys
Pilot workshop to assemble the cut-out model of The Three Chimneys, held in the building itself. By taking part in this guided, supported process, participants will explore the building through making a paper scale model (cut-out), with no prior knowledge or advanced manual skills required.
Authors: Fernando Jiménez Parras.
Type: Workshop.
Location: Les Tres Xemeneies.
District: Outside Barcelona.
Dates:
26/06/2026
Barcelona, Paper Architectures – DHub
Pilot workshop to assemble the cut-out model of the DHub, held in the building itself. By taking part in this guided, supported process, participants will explore the building through making a paper scale model (cut-out), with no prior knowledge or advanced manual skills required.
Authors: Fernando Jiménez Parras.
Type: Workshop.
Location: Disseny Hub Barcelona.
District: Sant Martí.
Dates:
25/06/2026. 17:00 – 19:00
Barcelona, Paper Architectures – Mies van der Rohe Pavilion
Pilot workshop to assemble the cut-out model of the Barcelona Pavilion, held in the building itself. By taking part in this guided, supported process, participants will explore the building through making a paper scale model (cut-out), with no prior knowledge or advanced manual skills required.
Authors: Fernando Jiménez Parras.
Type: Workshop.
Location: Mies van der Rohe Pavilion.
District: Sants-Montjuïc.
Dates:
25/06/2026. 10:00 – 12:00
The GATCPAC Today. Casa Bloc Itinerary: Today’s Urban Planning
Itineraries that reappraise the full legacy of GATCPAC—both its buildings and its ideas, still relevant today. Each route begins with a GATCPAC building, which acts as a thread running through the itinerary and a trigger for reflecting on the city today.
Authors: El globus vermell.
Type: Route.
Location: Casa Bloc.
District: Sant Andreu.
Dates:
19/06/2026. 16:00 – 18:30
The City as a Resource
An exhibition aimed at the general public to raise awareness of the construction sector’s environmental impact and to showcase examples of circular architecture where this impact has been minimised. It promotes the social and cultural values of architecture by highlighting existing materials in the built environment and their transformative potential through reuse.
Authors: URRU Recursos Urbans SCP.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Centre Cultural La Farinera del Clot.
District: Sant Martí.
Dates:
Start: 07/05/2026
End: 28/07/2026
Fora de si
Fora de si is a meeting space between architecture and other emerging artistic practices in Barcelona. Using materials, fragments and images, it maps the creative process to uncover the implicit points of contact between the city’s artistic and architectural ecosystems. A series of six dialogues at h2o gallery and routes through artists’ studios complement the exhibition.
Authors: Miquel Ruiz (h3o) and Arnau Pascual.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Galeria H2O.
District: Gràcia.
Dates:
Start: 13/05/2026
End: 28/06/2026
Sert Solstice
Coinciding with the summer solstice, the Fundació Joan Miró is offering an exceptional opportunity to view the building in natural daylight.
Authors: Fundació Joan Miró-CEAC / El globus vermell.
Type: Route.
Location: Fundació Joan Miró.
District: Sants-Montjuïc.
Dates:
21/06/2026. 06:00 – 10:00
RCR Arquitectes, Roots and Wings. A Journey from the Beginnings to the Present
La Garrotxa is on the map of global architecture thanks to RCR Arquitectes. The exhibition traces their origins in Olot and the influences that converge there, the dialogue between their work and local culture and landscape, and presents the studio’s most recent creations. RCR Arquitectes won the 2017 Pritzker Prize.
Authors: Fundació RCR Bunka.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Museu de la Garrotxa.
District: Outside Barcelona.
Dates:
Start: 14/03/2026
End: 09/08/2026
Modern Domestic Landscapes. Women’s Crossed Paths between Latin America and Europe
The exhibition explores the legacy of women who worked in the expanded field of architecture and shaped new landscapes of modern life throughout the 20th century, placing their work within the context of exchanges between Latin America and Europe. Through archival research with a gender perspective and the inclusion of new voices, it highlights practices that redefined the boundaries between architecture, design and everyday life.
Authors: Carla Zollinger and Mónica del Arenal.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Casa de l’Arquitectura de Barcelona.
District: Eixample.
Dates:
Start: 16/06/2026
End: 31/07/2026
The Instinct of Architecture. The Origin and Evolution of Human Architecture
After documenting an origin of architecture far more remote than previously believed, The Instinct of Architecture offers a vibrant narrative that turns the aesthetic foundations of architecture upside down, leading us to the idea that the cross-cutting traits linking architecture across all eras and cultures may be related to the evolution of the human species itself.
Authors: Arturo Frediani and Lara Alcaina.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Dipòsit del Rei Martí.
District: Sarrià-Sant Gervasi.
Dates:
Start: 11/06/2026
End: 13/09/2026
Barcelona Valenta 3: Sant Andreu. Turning the Factory into a Home
The neighbourhoods of Sant Andreu grew around factories established near the Rec Comtal and in the Sagrera area. Valenta Sant Andreu invites us to rediscover this past through the eyes of its recent protagonists: local residents and organisations that fought—and continue to fight—to transform factories into civic centres, parks and all kinds of public facilities.
Authors: Barcelona Architecture Walks.
Type: Route.
Location: Sant Andreu.
District: Sant Andreu.
Dates:
19/06/2026. 17:00 – 20:00
03/07/2026. 17:00 – 20:00
17/07/2026. 17:00 – 20:00
Bringing Torrebaró Closer
A route between the Canyelles neighbourhood and Torre Baró Castle with accessibility resources for blind people.
Authors: Escola d’Art Deià.
Type: Route.
Location: Nou Barris.
District: Nou Barris.
Dates:
Start: 01/06/2026
End: 30/06/2026
Sound Refuge
An installation that contrasts Poblenou’s noise pollution with positive sounds from nature. The aim is to imagine and model a city without harmful noise through simulations, artificial intelligence and local residents’ experience.
Authors: Associació CAMARAC / Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura del Vallès (ETSAV-UPC).
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Campus del Poble Nou.
District: Sant Martí.
Dates:
Start: 29/06/2026
End: 01/07/2026
Barcelona Open Wood: Biblioteca Gabriel García Márquez
Barcelona Open Wood is a series of guided tours of buildings in Barcelona where wood plays a leading role, both from a construction and an environmental perspective. An opportunity to discover how this sustainable material contributes to more innovative, healthy and future-oriented architecture.
Authors: Fira de Barcelona – Construmat – World Wood Future.
Type: Guided Visit.
Location: Biblioteca Gabriel García Márquez.
District: Sant Martí.
Dates:
15/06/2026. 13:30 – 15:00
Barcelona Open Wood: Ca l'Alier
Barcelona Open Wood is a series of guided tours of buildings in Barcelona where wood plays a leading role, both from a construction and an environmental perspective. An opportunity to discover how this sustainable material contributes to more innovative, healthy and future-oriented architecture.
Authors: Fira de Barcelona – Construmat – World Wood Future.
Type: Guided Visit.
Location: Ca l’Alier.
District: Sant Martí.
Dates:
17/07/2026. 10:00 – 11:30
17/07/2026. 16:00 – 17:30
From Clay to AI
RI Recycling Intelligences and Visionary Architectures by Miquel Navarro.
Authors: Lluís Ortega (UPC-JL_Office), Enrique Romero (UPC), Julia Capomaggi (UdG-JL_Office).
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Fundació Suñol.
District: Les Corts.
Dates:
Start: 30/04/2026
End: 17/07/2026
Living Room Gardens
A century after Rubió i Tudurí, Artigas and Dufy’s revolutionary “living room gardens” (1926), this exhibition brings together 15 international architects and landscape architects to reimagine living room gardens in 3D-printed ceramic. The show places each designer’s garden within its homoclimatic zone, offering a real and conceptual walk through the finest landscape architecture.
Authors: Not specified.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Jardí Botànic de Barcelona.
District: Sants-Montjuïc.
Dates:
Start: 05/06/2026
End: 04/10/2026
Barcelona = (Diversity + Intensity) × Complexity
In the current context, contemporary architecture faces major challenges, such as adapting to climate change, preserving heritage, and safeguarding people’s health. In this scenario, the city becomes both the challenge and the laboratory where all of this is put to the test.
Authors: Not specified.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Casa de l’Arquitectura de Barcelona.
District: Eixample.
Dates:
Start: 12/03/2026
End: 13/12/2026
EUmies Awards Exhibition
The exhibition brings together the 410 nominated works of this edition, highlighting the 40 finalists selected by the jury and offering more detailed information about the winners and finalists. It shows how architects express their ideas and explore the potential of architecture in a society undergoing radical transformation. It is a vivid and faithful portrait of contemporary architecture and its role within society.
Authors: Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Creative Europe, European Commission.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Palau Victòria Eugènia.
District: Sants-Montjuïc.
Dates:
Start: 11/05/2026
End: 05/07/2026
Internalities
Internalities, the Spanish Pavilion at the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, explores how architects can minimise the environmental externalities associated with production processes in order to advance the decarbonisation of construction. Through built works and research projects, Internalities demonstrates how to generate new territorial balances: agreements between ecologies and economies.
Authors: Not specified.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Oliva Artés. Museu d’Història de Barcelona.
District: Sant Martí.
Dates:
Start: 26/06/2026
End: 13/09/2026
Metaphysical Architectures by Miquel Navarro
From Clay to AI. Metaphysical Architectures by Miquel Navarro and Recycling Intelligences.
Authors: Fundació Suñol.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Fundació Suñol.
District: Les Corts.
Dates:
Start: 30/04/2026
End: 17/07/2026
Barcelona Plan 2026–2035 Model
The Barcelona Plan 2026–2035 Model has been created to mark the celebration of Barcelona as World Capital of Architecture, and it will remain on permanent display at the former Gustavo Gili publishing house beyond 2026, as one of the highlights of its legacy.
Authors: Fundació Mies van der Rohe – Ajuntament de Barcelona.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Casa de l’Arquitectura de Barcelona.
District: Eixample.
Dates:
Start: 14/02/2026
End: 13/12/2026
Opening hours: 10:00 – 19:00
Travelling Exhibition: From Blind Walls to Façades. A Legacy for the City. Sant Martí
Blind walls are anonymous walls that divide properties. Although they play no role in the building’s external appearance, they may end up exposed to public view as a result of changes in urban planning.
Authors: Not specified.
Type: Exhibition.
Location: Oliva Artés. Museu d’Història de Barcelona.
District: Sant Martí.
Dates:
Start: 01/07/2026
End: 31/08/2026