It was almost noon and architect Joan Busquets had been at the doors of the Teatre Romea for an hour, calming the spirits of the young congressmen who had, in almost all venues, forced the suspension of sessions in protest against the limited capacity of the venues. That July 4, 1996, the first day of the World Congress of Architects ended up being held in the afternoon in Plaça del Macba and the following days in a packed Palau Sant Jordi where the speakers, many of them star architects of the moment, succeeded one another, astonished by the interest and dedication of the students and congressmen gathered. At the closing of the UIA 2026 World Congress of Architects, this Thursday morning, Joan Busquets was also there, now as honorary president. But he hasn't had to fight with anyone, quite the opposite. All have been praises for the organization and, of course, the large hall of the International Congress Center of Barcelona (CCIB) could accommodate everyone and the four large screens of a video that was being edited live were visible from all points. The organizational aspect is one of the significant changes between the two congresses, but surely the smallest.

Barcelona will be the first city to host the International Union of Architects (UIA) World Congress of Architecture for the second time, from June 28 to July 2, 2026. It is also unprecedented that the issues to be addressed were proposed by a team of architects emerging from an international competition. They are Pau Bajet, Mariona Benedito, Maria Giramé, Tomeu Ramis, Pau Sarquella, Carmen Torres, and José Zabala, and this Monday they have given new details on how they will unfold their project, titledBecoming. Architecturas for planet in transition:its main venues will be Las Tres Chimeneas in Sant Adrià de Besòs and the Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHub). Likewise, emblematic city locations will also host public events of the congress, such as the Castell de Montjuïc, which will host the closing ceremony; the Marina Pier and the Sagrada Família, where the UIA awards will be presented. It has also been announced that the curators have commissioned 12 investigations, to teams that include Atelier Bow-Wow, Colectivo C733, Anna Puigjaner, de Vylder Vinck, and Forensic Architecture. Another of these investigations is Water Parliaments, the proposal by Eva Franch and the TAKK studio that will represent Catalonia at the next Venice Architecture Biennale.The decision to locate the venues at Las Tres Chimeneas in Sant Adrià de Besòs and the Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHub) is well thought out: for the curators, this coastal strip is "of high complexity" because "the essential infrastructures for the metropolis" are located there, and because this area must assume the thus, the curators want to highlight that the World Congress "participates in the geopolitical framework that the Mediterranean Sea represents, and wants to show Barcelona as a Mediterranean city in constant transformation, which crystallizes the idea of the city's own construction over time"."In 2026 it represents a relevant milestone for Barcelona, as for a few days it will host the UIA Congress, but also because it has been designated by UNESCO as the World Capital of Architecture," says architect Maria Giramé. On the other hand, regarding the use of time in architecture to which "Becoming" refers, Giramé explains that it consists of "always working from pre-existences, whether they are the physical landscapes, the cultures, the histories or the memories of a place, to transform them carefully, taking into account their richness".