The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, this Thursday gave the "starting signal for the preparation of the world capital of architecture", which the city will host in 2026, with the aim of "bringing architecture to all citizens, because it is everyone's heritage". He did it in an event at the Dipòsit del Rei Martí, the water reservoir at the foot of the Bellesguard tower that was discovered in 2001 and that was chosen to reflect how "we need architecture to solve humanity's problems , and the most poignant is climate change".
Collboni has highlighted the importance of discipline in the city, but not only because of the monuments, but also because of how it has contributed to "transform and dignify the neighborhoods since the arrival of democracy". "Democracy - he insisted - begins and ends in public space, it must be designed, protected and respected". He also recalled a "double dimension of the city: the global ambition, as expressed by this capital, and the human scale, with the care of public space", because "cities are the solution, we are not the problem" .
The chief architect of the City Council, Maria Buhigas, has presented the objectives of the capital, which will be developed for ten months, "between Santa Eulàlia and Santa Llúcia", from February to December, in which - in addition to the Congress World Architecture of the International Union of Architects, from June 28 to July 2 – there will be exhibitions, routes, workshops, open doors, conferences and competitions, in a program that is still to be defined, but it made a calls for the "collaboration of the entire community, professional and cultural entities, institutions and schools", and has invited "citizens to participate in the events". "Everyone will be able to propose things", he said, and to do so a technical office has been opened under the Mies van der Rohe Foundation.
The objectives of the capital city will be, on the one hand, the dissemination of "the values and the transformative capacity of architecture and urban planning" and the promotion, to "make known the historical and contemporary heritage and Barcelona and Catalan architecture" , but it wants to be done in a choral way, because the capital "is a structure that we want to be open and networked", open to everyone's participation and to leave "a material and immaterial legacy beyond 2026". Emphasizing this openness and decentralization, he highlighted that activities will be held "in the ten districts of Barcelona, to show wonderful spaces hidden throughout the city".
Finally, the president of the Unesco-International Union of Architects committee, Dominique Perrault - who was in charge of deciding the capital city - has assured that "Barcelona for me is already a capital city", since he has taught classes there and has built - the ME hotel and the Diagonal 123 building are his work - and he pointed out that the function of the committee "is not to intervene but to participate in the debate": "We are interested in accompanying them".
To prepare the capital, this year - from May 14 to June 28 - and next will be celebrated the Weeks of Architecture, until 2026 arrives what Buhigas has defined as "premium Architecture Weeks", which leave a legacy and inheritance to "project themselves beyond the moment".
