From October until November 24, 2023, the Mugak International Architecture Biennial of the Basque Country will take place. Now in its fourth edition, the event brings together a wide range of open, free activities across San Sebastián, Bilbao, and Vitoria-Gasteiz under the theme “rebuild, reinhabit, rethink,” encouraging debate on the impact of architecture within the context of today's multidimensional crisis—encompassing its environmental, economic, and social responsibilities, as well as its capacity for transformation and care.
As the premier architectural event of the Atlantic Arc, the Mugak/ Basque Country International Architecture Biennial is organized by the Department of Territorial Planning, Housing, and Transport of the Basque Government. Conceived as a participatory cultural infrastructure open to citizens and urban stakeholders, it aims to become a forum for conversations and reflections connected to global debates. The biennial is structured around a central exhibition, opening on October 25, and features urban routes and walks that seek to reclaim the streets through three temporary pavilions.
Mugak/ invites citizens to reflect on public space through three pavilions that represent different approaches to temporary architecture, which will host various program activities throughout the Biennial. The ‘Lost Forest’ pavilion by Julia Ruiz-Cabello and Santiago del Águila, winners of the 2023 TAC! Urban Architecture Festival competition for San Sebastián, is the first temporary architecture installation to open, launching on October 10 at the Sagüés esplanade in San Sebastián. This installation uses wood salvaged from forest fires for its construction.
The ‘Mugak/ HABIT[atu]Z’ pavilion by Beñat Saratxaga and Gentzane Goikuria, from the Bilbao-based firm behark, will be installed in Bilbao. It uses a modular transformation system to improve living conditions in existing residential buildings through new habitable spaces and exterior galleries that provide functional, comfortable, and high-quality spaces. Kicking off the Bilbao programming on November 6, this system employs diverse, repetitive prefabricated modules for rapid, lightweight, and adaptable construction.
Lastly, ‘ARGI’—the pavilion designed by the Basque Country University School of Architecture (ETSA)—will be located in the heart of San Sebastián at Alderdi Eder Park, opening on November 7. In the words of its director Jon Begiristain, it is considered “an extension of the teaching space with a unique form and materiality, designed to travel. It is a modular system that can be easily transported, quickly assembled, and lends itself to various future uses”.
Just as Rafael Aranda, Sou Fujimoto, Carme Pinós, Álvaro Siza, Anne Lacaton and Jean Philippe Vassal, Rafael Moneo, Tatiana Bilbao, Rudy Riccioti, Christian Kerez, or Sandra Barclay and Jean Pierre Crousse, among others, have driven reflections on architecture and urbanism in previous editions, the 2023 lineup features 2012 Pritzker Prize-winning architect Wang Shu. He will participate in the main exhibition curated by María Arana, titled ‘Inhabiting Change,’ and deliver a keynote lecture alongside Lu Wenyu to open it. Additionally, figures such as researcher Beatriz Colomina, artist Isaac Cordal, architects José María Torres Nadal, Ramón Faura, and Marina Otero, along with firms amid.cero9, TAKK, and Acha Zaballa Arquitectos, will travel to the Basque Country starting October 25 to deliver a series of lectures:
Among the exhibitions, activities, and workshops scheduled are ‘Periferiak: Peripheral and Temporary’ by the Gipuzkoa delegation of the Basque-Navarre Official Association of Architects in collaboration with AHIKU-Arkitektura eta hiri kultura; the children's workshops ‘REMAKE!’ and youth workshops tied to the exhibition ‘Gego. Measuring the Infinity’; the ‘Rhizoma’ project by Victoria Collar and Jon Garbizu (Garbizu Collar Architects), Gonzalo Peña (KRI Studio), and Diego Sologuren; and the project ‘disco-TEKAK: Temples of Bumping on the Gipuzkoa Coast’ by BeAr Architects. Additionally, the Peña Ganchegui Awards, organized by the Peña Ganchegui Archive with support from the Department of Territorial Planning, Housing, and Transport, will hold its ceremony on October 20, followed by the opening of an exhibition showcasing the winning works on November 2. To complement these, this edition introduces a new track in the official programming with Off Mugak/ side events, inviting individuals and entities from outside the Basque Country to contribute their own activities.
Mugak/ will also feature a small exhibition at ETSAM, organized by the Habic cluster, consisting of three freestanding wooden structures illuminated with inspiring phrases related to the core concepts of this fourth edition. ‘Rebuild’ is the first structure, which, along with its illuminated canvases, inspires rebirth and overcoming challenges. Meanwhile, ‘Reinhabit’ addresses the importance of revitalizing urban spaces to give them new life, and ‘Rethink’ prompts us to reflect on our relationship with the built environment and question established norms.
This article was written by Agustina Iñiguez. The translation is powered by AI.
