This year, the Architects’ Association of Catalonia is organising an Architecture Congress which will provide a meeting place for professionals, the general public and institutions to move forward with a new positioning of architecture that facilitates better responses to the new social, environmental and economic challenges facing society now and in the future.

By convening this event, the Association continues a tradition that goes back to 1931. Nine congresses have been organized since then, the last of which was held in 1996 in conjunction with the International Union of Architects (UIA).

The Architecture Congress 2016 is moving away from the usual format for these events, with the aim of opening it and making it more participative. It will begin this June and host events over a six-month period up to November. The key will be the active participation of architects along with the involvement of other professionals and members of the public. The abstracts sent by participants will encourage continuous and open debate on both the Congress website and social media sites. Apart from the online debate, the Congress will include a wide-ranging programme of events in a variety of formats (lectures, competitions, exhibitions, round tables) that will take place at the various regional COAC locations.

From 15 May onwards, you can send your abstract proposal to the Congress Committee. Once published on the website, your abstract will become part of the open debate taking place on the social media and the website. Abstracts should fall under the heading of one of the three core themes of the Congress: context (analysis and explanation of reality), instruments (tools that allow architects to function) and objectives (architectural priorities that must be shared).

Check the Architecture Congress' website [2]