DAD at the UIA 2026 World Congress of Architects in Barcelona
With over 10,000 participants and 250 speakers, the UIA World Congress of Architects is the most important event of the year for the international architecture community. In 2026, the congress was held in Barcelona from June 28 to July 2, becoming a widespread laboratory of ideas and visions around the theme “Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition”. The topic invited participants to explore how spatial practices can respond to the challenges of a planet undergoing profound transformation, using time as a fundamental design tool.
PolITO Department of Architecture and Design-DAD took part in the event through contributions by Deputy Director Diana Rolando and Professor Albena Yaneva.
Professor Rolando spoke in the session dedicated to “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Architecture Education”, presenting the DAD’s experience with a speech entitled “Building an AI Ecosystem for Research, Education and Heritage Regeneration at DAD”. She explained how artificial intelligence is not merely a professional tool, but a true cultural infrastructure capable of connecting research and education. Key elements of her presentation included the new research center AIDAD (Artificial Intelligence, Archives and Design), the AI-Enhanced Architecture Summer School promoted by DAD, and an innovative PhD research project on Augmented Strategic Due Diligence, developed within the PhD Programme in Architectural Heritage at DAD.
Professor Yaneva, on the other hand, acted as host and moderator for the panel “Radical Ecologies: Architecture as Political Engagement”, part of the research track “Becoming More-than-human”. The discussion featured leading figures such as Petra Blaisse and Andrés Jaque, exploring so-called “interspecies alliances” and how design can reveal hidden social and ecological relationships. Under Yaneva’s guidance, the panel examined architecture as a discipline and practice that goes beyond solving technical problems, acting instead as a political and collaborative praxis in contentious environmental contexts.
DAD’s participation in the World Congress in Barcelona was not only an academic showcase, but also a concrete contribution to building shared futures, in which architecture reaffirms itself as a civic and social experience essential to the global transition.
Photos by UIA World Congress of Architects