World Congress: The Latest Architecture and News

The UIA 2026, the 29th edition of the triennial international event for architectural dialogue organised by the International Union of Architects, has opened its doors on Sunday, June 28th, with an inaugural event held at Three Chimneys, a former power plant in Sant Adrià de Besòs. Each Congress focuses on a pressing topic relevant to the profession, articulated through a central theme. The topic for 2026 is "Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition," calling for a broad and critical overview of the possible futures of architecture. The event runs through July 2, 2026, as a distributed event across multiple venues and urban contexts. With a multidisciplinary approach, Barcelona, the UNESCO World Capital of Architecture 2026, is set to become a global laboratory and hub for debating forthcoming ecological, social, material, and cultural transitions.

Three decades after it first hosted the event, Barcelona once again becomes the host of the global disciplinary debate. The UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona aims to bring together 10,000 professionals, students, and institutional representatives from more than 130 countries. Discussions address topics such as the climate emergency, the housing crisis, the circularity and sustainability of materials, and the evolution of public space at large and small scales, as well as more specific topics such as the future role and responsibility of architectural awards or conferences dedicated to the DANA floods in Valencia. The daily program will be marked by two plenary sessions each day, at the start (09:00) and at the end (16:45).

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Every three years, the International Union of Architects' (UIA) World Congress lands in a different city, under a different theme set years in advance. A quick mapping of these host cities reveals a deliberate pattern: throughout the decades, the UIA has purposefully chosen a wide range of venues across all continents, rendering each edition a snapshot of what mattered in that specific place, at that exact moment. The result of this geographic rotation has been a diverse kaleidoscope of conversations, analyzing the profession from countless angles and adapting it to changing times. But 2026 is different; this time the UIA is repeating a host city for the first time: Barcelona, under the theme "Becoming. Architectures for a planet in transition".

The UIA World Congress of Architects is an international event for architectural dialogue organised by the International Union of Architects (UIA, by its French acronym), a non-governmental organisation that unites national associations of architects from over 100 countries, representing more than one million professionals. The first UIA Congress of Architects, which also marked the institution's founding, was held in Lausanne in 1948 during the post-war reconstruction period. Since then, UIA congresses have been held every three years in a different city within a member country, serving as the organisation's main recurring event. In 2026, the Congress will be held in Barcelona, and UNESCO has consequently designated the city as the World Capital of Architecture 2026. Each Congress focuses on a key topic relevant to the profession, articulated through a central theme. Recent themes include Copenhagen 2023: "Sustainable Futures. Leave no one behind." and Rio 2020–2021: "All the worlds. Just one World." The topic for 2026 is "Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition," welcoming renowned figures in contemporary architectural thought and practice for a broad and critical overview of the possible futures of architecture.

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Tomorrow.Building World Congress (Barcelona, November 7-9, 2023) is the new global event empowering the green and digital transition of buildings and urban infrastructures, a gathering of experts and leaders of the construction industry where to exchange ideas and foster business. Celebrated within the framework of Smart City Expo World Congress, the leading event for cities, for this edition are expected over 25,000 professionals from more than 800 cities and over 600 international speakers that will share their vision on how to build a more sustainable and livable urban future.

The winners of the 2016 INTBAU World Congress Excellence Awards have recently been announced. Categories for this year’s competition were Community Engagement, New Building, Urban Design, and Emerging Talent. The awards were given during the INTBAU World Congress 2016, a biennial forum that brings together international participants to debate the most pressing global issues facing building, architecture, and urbanism.

"I join my jurors in applauding the considerable depth and breadth of this year's award submissions," said Anne Fairfax, President a Fairfax & Sammons Architects and jury chair of the Excellence Awards. "We found the projects to be thoughtful in leading by example in the use of traditional design but we were also pleased to see the positive social activism and environmental responsibility that characterized many of the projects, reaching deep into the values of the INTBAU mission."

The winners of the 2016 INTBAU World Congress Excellence Awards are: