Barcelona hosts the World Congress of Architects 2026

Amid debates on housing, the climate crisis, and urban transformation, the UIA congress once again brings together architects, researchers, and curators from around the world to discuss the future of cities and contemporary ways of living.

The World Congress of Architects, organized by the International Union of Architects / Union Internationale des Architectes (UIA), has become one of the main international platforms for debate on contemporary architecture and territorial transformations. Every three years, architects, researchers, students, and curators from different geographies gather to discuss issues that today affect many cities: the housing crisis, climate change, tourism pressure, and the tensions between heritage, community, and public space.

The 2026 edition will take place in Barcelona, from June 28 to July 2, in a city whose own urban history makes it a particularly symbolic setting for this reflection. The congress also coincides with Barcelona’s designation as UNESCO-UIA World Capital of Architecture 2026, extending the program across various spaces in the city and involving cultural institutions, universities, and public facilities.

Thousands of participants from dozens of countries are expected, in a program that includes conferences, debates, exhibitions, workshops, urban tours, and project presentations. Under the theme “Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition,” the congress proposes to rethink architecture in a time marked by environmental, social, and political instability, bringing together diverse practices, disciplines, and contexts.

More than presenting projects or trends, the event seeks to create a space for dialogue - and confrontation - between different ways of thinking about territory and the act of inhabiting. In a context where many cities face processes of exclusion, touristification, and community displacement, discussing architecture also becomes a way of discussing memory, power, and ways of life.