The event will gather over 10,000 professionals from 28 June to 2 July
The CCIB is preparing as a key venue for the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026
Barcelona is preparing to host one of the major international events on the future of architecture, with the International Barcelona Convention Centre (CCIB), managed by Fira de Barcelona, as one of its main venues. From 28 June to 2 July 2026, the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 will bring together more than 10,000 professionals from over 130 countries to address the major urban, social, and environmental challenges shaping architecture in the years ahead.
At this prestigious event, which will also have Les Tres Xemeneies in Sant Adrià de Besòs and Disseny Hub Barcelona as key venues, the CCIB will play a central role as the venue for most of the programme’s professional activity. The centre will host plenary and parallel sessions, as well as meetings of the statutory bodies and working groups of the International Union of Architects (UIA), and the official closing ceremony.
The congress is organised by the International Union of Architects (UIA), the Spanish Council of Architects’ Associations (CSCAE) and the Architects’ Association of Catalonia (COAC), and will include around one hundred sessions, including conferences, debates, workshops, open forums and research presentations. The programme will bring together professionals from different disciplines, including architects, urban planners, researchers, academics, students and institutional representatives from around the world.
Under the theme Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition, the congress is structured around six thematic pillars—ecology, circular economy, materials, urban policies, data and culture—that address key contemporary challenges in a cross-cutting way: the climate crisis, resource management, new forms of architectural production, and the relationship between society, technology and the built environment.
Among the participants are leading international figures such as the studios Lacaton & Vassal, Shigeru Ban, Amateur Architecture Studio and Architecten Jan De Vylder Inge Vinck, as well as Chilean architect Smiljan Radić, who is responsible for the team designing the future Multifunctional Hall at the Montjuïc exhibition site.
CCIB, architecture and scale serving the congress
The event will occupy 10,393 m² of the CCIB and will make use of much of its congress facilities, including virtually all conference rooms and part of the multipurpose area. This capacity will support a particularly complex programme, with multiple simultaneous activities and an intensive professional agenda throughout the congress days.
Beyond its role as a congress infrastructure, the CCIB is also a landmark of contemporary architecture on Barcelona’s seafront. It is made up of two iconic buildings connected by an underground walkway: the Convention Centre, designed by architect Josep Lluís Mateo, and the CCIB Forum Auditorium, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, an iconic and highly distinctive space that has become one of the city’s most recognisable pieces of contemporary architecture.
The complex stands out for its ability to combine functionality, flexibility and large scale, with versatile spaces designed to host highly complex events. This dual role—as both a congress infrastructure and a distinctive architectural landmark—places the CCIB in tune with the spirit of a congress that aims to reflect on the future of architecture, cities and spaces for gathering in a planet in transition.
Barcelona, World Capital of Architecture
The congress takes place within the framework of Barcelona’s designation as UNESCO–UIA World Capital of Architecture 2026, a distinction linked to the host city of the World Congress of Architects under the agreement between the UIA and UNESCO. In this context, the city will become a major platform for architectural reflection and outreach, with a wide programme of activities, exhibitions and itineraries across different areas of the city, aimed at bringing architecture closer to citizens and fostering debate on the urban model of the future.
Barcelona will also become the first city in the world to host the UIA World Congress of Architects for a second time, thirty years after its first edition held in 1996. This milestone reinforces the city’s trajectory as an international benchmark in architecture, design and the organisation of large-scale, globally relevant events.
More information: https://uia2026bcn.org/
Barcelona, June 25th, 2026
CCIB Communication
Alba Carné