With one month to go before its opening, the details of the official program for the 21st Pan-American Architecture Biennial of Quito (BAQ2018) have been announced. Marking its 40th anniversary, the event will focus its dialogue and debate on architecture itself.
To be held from November 19 to 23 in the Ecuadorian capital, the event offers a prime opportunity to discuss and debate a discipline that, in recent years, has seen a decline in the spaces dedicated to fostering such encounters and dialogue.
With this in mind, and with the clear objective of refocusing on the practice of architecture—broadening the scope to include consistent, tangible works that respond to their sociocultural and economic contexts—the biennial has designed a diverse program structured around two main axes: keynote lectures and panel discussions.
The keynote lectures will be delivered by prominent architects and critics from the contemporary architectural scene, including Francisco Díaz (Chile), Fredy Massad (Argentina), Juan Domingo Santos (Spain), Wilfried Wang (Germany), Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique Sobejano (Spain), and Sandra Barclay and Jean Pierre Crousse (Peru).
The panel discussions, meanwhile, will focus on buildings and works considered key to the discipline which, for various reasons, have managed to transcend architecture itself.
Featured projects range from essential 20th-century architectural landmarks like SESC Pompéia, designed by Italian-Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi, to works that have redefined and challenged typological conventions, such as the Hotel Aire de Bardenas by Spanish firm López Rivera Arquitectos, to buildings whose flexible layouts enhance educational dynamics and engage children's senses, such as the María Montessori Mazatlán School, a collaboration between Mexican studios EPArquitectos and Estudio Macías Peredo.
As a result, this new edition of the Biennial, which will be opened by Brazilian architect Marcelo Ferraz, will establish an ideal space for contemporary architectural reflection and debate, cementing its status as an internationally influential cultural event.
You can find more details about the biennial at the following link.
Via BAQ2018.
This article was written by Javier García Librero. The translation is powered by AI.
