The exhibition brings together the results of the Research by Design projects, presented through models, prototypes, audiovisual works and full-scale installations that explore the capacity of architecture to intervene in processes of planetary transformation. Water appears as both a risk and a shared resource: Dirk Sijmons and KK+N+S propose maritime protection landscapes that work with tides and ecosystems; Eva Franch and TAKK focus on the Ebro Delta, where sediment becomes an ecological and political agent; and Colectivo C733 addresses water scarcity in Mexico City through local infrastructure for collective care.
Other works, winners of the BIT Habitat mineral challenge, rethink the material and immaterial conditions of construction: BAUKUNST, Structural Xploration Lab and BC architects & studies & materials through circular systems and bioregional waste, while H Arquitectes and BRUTHER make visible the air, temperature, ventilation and light as they shape space.
Several projects approach architecture as a practice of adaptation: Atelier Bow-Wow examines urban nightlife and rising temperatures; Jan de Vylder and Inge Vinck approach a public building as a project permanently open to reinterpretation; and Care., MAIO and Pol Esteve Castelló reimagine music clubs as infrastructures of care for ageing and non-normative bodies. Brandlhuber+, b+ and HouseEurope! present legislation as a tool to defend the right to housing, while Forensic Architecture demonstrates how spatial investigation can produce evidence and mobilise public accountability.
The exhibition also presents the results of the International Emerging Workshop, held from 18 to 27 June with young architects and students from around the world, led by Simulaa, Design Earth, HOLES, Nicolas Dorval-Bory Architectes, TEN, Nuno Melo Sousa, Assemble and Common Treasures, Plan Común, Ibiye Camp, Common Accounts, Bangkok Tokyo Architecture and BeAr.
In dialogue with these works, the exhibition brings together more than 200 contributions from Congress speakers, forming a broad panorama of contemporary architectural practice across the six thematic strands of Becoming. Also presented is a selection of projects from the UNESCO–UIA International Student Competition Catalysts of Resilience and the Young Architects competition Architecture in the Aftermath of Disasters.
The exhibition is open to the general public with free admission from 3 to 19 July, Thursday to Sunday, 12:00–21:00.
The exhibition of the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona, Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition, transforms the turbine hall of the former thermal power station of Sant Adrià de Besòs — the iconic Three Chimneys — into a 4,000 square metre laboratory dedicated to experimentation, research and architectural exchange. It is open to the public with free admission from 3 to 19 July, Thursday to Sunday, 12:00–21:00.