Architecture Studio Sessions

From 28 June to 2 July 2026, Barcelona will host the UIA World Congress. On this occasion, the city becomes the World Capital of Architecture and will roll out, from 12 February to 13 December, an extensive program of activities across the city, presented last Tuesday 13 January at the Canòdrom. Among the more than 1,500 scheduled activities, whose main goal is to bring architecture closer to the public, Architecture Studio Sessions stands out as a proposal that invites visitors to discover how architects work daily from inside their own studios.

Conceived and organized by World-Architects in collaboration with Labóh and L35, Architecture Studio Sessions offers a sequence of events in which ten architecture studios in Barcelona literally open their doors to share their ways of working, their philosophies, and their spaces.

Each session combines a presentation by the host studio, a guided tour of its offices, and a social moment accompanied by music — with playlists and DJ sets curated by the architects themselves. The result is a hybrid format, halfway between a professional event and a cultural experience, focusing not only on architecture but also on the people, spaces, and dynamics that make it possible. The initiative is curated by Gaia Pellegrini, Miriam Giordano, and John Hill, and sponsored by Laufen, Roca, and Simon.

The program will run throughout the year, with monthly sessions from February to December, as part of the official calendar of the World Capital of Architecture. The selection of participating studios reflects a diversity of scales, approaches, and trajectories, ranging from large international offices to younger, more experimental practices. The calendar is as follows:

25 February → BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group (Eixample)

The series opens at BIG’s Barcelona headquarters on Ronda de Sant Pere: two floors of a historic building that reflects the studio’s combination of craftsmanship, technology, and global ambition.

4 March → Mariona Benedito + Bayona Valero (Sarrià–Sant Gervasi)

In the second session, Mariona Benedito and Bayona Valero open the doors of their shared space, an unconventional office that brings together various practices linked to architecture, urbanism, and urban theory.

6 May → L35 Architects (Diagonal)
The next meeting takes place in L35 Architects’ penthouse on Avinguda Diagonal: a space occupying the top two floors and the rooftop of the building, connected to an open terrace overlooking Rambla de Catalunya and the sea.

3 June → Batlleiroig (Esplugues de Llobregat)
Batlleiroig will welcome participants to its campus in Esplugues de Llobregat, a set of historic and contemporary buildings that embodies the firm’s commitment to landscape, nature, and sustainability.

8 July → External Reference (Eixample)
The itinerary continues at the studio led by Carmelo Zappulla, located in a Modernist building in the Eixample, where mosaics and stained glass dialogue with a contemporary laboratory for design and digital fabrication.

16 September → h3o architects (Gràcia)
The young practice h3o Architects opens its studio on Carrer Verdi in Gràcia: a space organized around a garden, where the session is conceived as a natural extension of the dialogue between architecture, nature, and the city.

7 October → Benedetta Tagliabue – EMBT (Gothic Quarter)
This session will be held in the former studio shared by Miralles and Tagliabue, now the headquarters of EMBT and the Enric Miralles Foundation, which retains the firm’s experimental spirit and houses the most complete archive of the architect’s work.

7 November → GCA Architects (Eixample)
GCA Architects will open its headquarters in the former Cine Reina Victoria, an open-plan space with skylights integrating work areas, library, design, and art — reflecting their vision of architecture as a dialogue with culture and the city.

2 December → LAMÁQUINA (Sant Martí)
The series concludes at LAMÁQUINA, an industrial warehouse in Sant Martí between factory and laboratory, dedicated to large-scale 3D printing, where architecture is revealed as a productive and technological process.

→ To attend the events, register here.

Architecture Studio Sessions offers a direct and accessible view of contemporary architectural practice, inviting the public to explore the spaces where the projects that shape our city are created. Through very diverse studios, formats, and contexts, the initiative celebrates Barcelona as a living and dynamic stage for architecture during its year as World Capital.

Organizer
World-Architects

In collaboration with
Labóh, L35

Curators
Miriam Giordano, Gaia Pellegrini, John Hill 

Sponsors
Laufen, Roca, Simon 

Participating studios
BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, Mariona Benedito + Bayona Valero, L35 Architects, Batlleiroig, External Reference, h3o architects, Benedetta Tagliabue – EMBT, GCA Architects, LAMÁQUINA.

More information:
https://www.world-architects.com/es/pages/barcelona-architecture-studio-sessions
https://www.barcelona.cat/capitalmundialarquitectura/ca/programa