The Diplomat
The Assembly of the International Union of Architects (UIA), held yesterday in the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), elected, by a large majority, the city of Barcelona to host the UIA World Congress and to be the UIA-UNESCO World Capital of Architecture in 2026. Barcelona competed with only one rival, the Chinese city of Beijing, and will succeed the city of Copenhagen, which will host the Congress in 2023.
Barcelona’s candidacy as World Architecture Capital has been promoted by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma) in collaboration with the City Council of Barcelona, the Generalitat de Catalunya, the CSCAE and the Architects’ Association of Catalonia.
The city will thus become the venue for the most important architecture congress in the sector, an event that will serve to highlight the role of architecture and urban planning in the configuration of the city model and in the projects that are being developed today to face contemporary urban challenges.
Thus, in addition to the UIA Congress, in 2026, multidisciplinary cultural events will be organised around the axis of architecture and urbanism throughout that year in Barcelona.
As for the designation of the city, on the occasion of the pandemic, the choice had to be made online, based on a video in which the social and cultural values of Barcelona’s architecture are exemplified.
