Becoming.Architectures for a planet in transition

The central exhibition of the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona, Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition has been developed by the Congress curatorial team Pau Bajet, Mariona Benedito, Maria Giramé, Tomeu Ramis, Pau Sarquella and Carmen Torres, transforms the turbine hall of the former Sant Adrià de Besòs power station—the iconic Three Chimneys—into a 4,000-square-metre space for architectural experimentation, research, and exchange. 

The exhibition presents a constellation of research, installations and projects exploring how architecture can act on a planet in transition. Through works developed by international teams, emerging workshops and a selection of built projects, the space functions as a collective laboratory where speculation, research and architectural practice are brought into dialogue.

At its centre are the outcomes of the Research by Design programme: twelve long term investigations developed specifically for the Congress through models, prototypes, audiovisual works and full-scale installations. Rather than presenting architecture as a finished object, these works test relations between climate, matter, bodies, policy and territory. Twelve practices are carrying out unprecedented research addressing some of the most urgent challenges, such as access to housing and the climate crisis. The twelve practices in charge are Dirk Sijmons + KK+N+S, Eva Franch and TAKK, Colectivo C733, BAUKUNST and Structural Xploration Lab, BC architects & studies & materials, H Arquitectes, BRUTHER, Atelier Bow-Wow, Jan de Vylder and Inge Vinck, Care., MAIO and Pol Esteve Castelló, Brandlhuber+, b+ and HouseEurope!, and Forensic Architecture.

The exhibition also presents the results of the International Emerging Workshop, held from 19 to 27 June with young architects from around the world. Led by 12 emerging practices – Simulaa, Design Earth,  Mio Tsuneyama and Fuminori Nousaku, Nicolas Dorval-Bory Architectes, Nuno Melo Sousa, TEN Studio, Assemble, Plan Común, Common Accounts,  Ibiye Camp, Bear and Bangkok Tokyo Architecture— the workshops transform the Congress site and the city of Barcelona into a short-term laboratory.

The exhibition will be open to Congress pass holders from June 28 to July 2 and to the general public from July 3 to 19 from 12 to 9pm. 

The UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona for five days, from June 28 to July 2, will bring together around 10,000 participants and 250 speakers in more than 100 sessions. Three decades after hosting the International Union of Architects (UIA) Congress in 1996, Barcelona will once again become the epicentre of the global architectural debate and will bring together professionals from more than 130 countries, opening up to the city and the territory, under the motto Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition. Called by the International Union of Architects (UIA), the Congress is organised by the Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España (CSCAE) and the Col·legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya (COAC). It also has the support of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda of Spain, the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Barcelona City Council, which have recognised it as an event of exceptional public interest.