VII Arquia/Next Festival 2020

'TURNING POINT. Radical positions for a changing world' 

The motto of this biennial TURNING POINT defined by the curator, Gonzalo Herrero Delicado, reflects on living in a constantly changing world. Whether caused by political conflict, social inequalities, ecological disasters or pandemics, the planet and humanity are facing a continuous state of transformation and necessary adaptation. We will collectively examine how the emerging architecture of Spain and Portugal is addressing these challenges. It is an opportunity to reflect on those practices that are addressing with risk and innovation, generating a new radicality in architecture.

The festival was held in 21-22 October, featuring an extensive programme of discussions, conversations and presentations with the architects and studios selected in the arquia/next programme, as well as other guests including Anupama Kundoo, Carme Pinós and Peter Cook. The virtual platform that hosted the festival, designed by Space Popular and inspired by the city of Barcelona, also provided a framework for hosting related activities such as galleries of the arquia/next and arquia/scholarships programmes, and a new documentary directed by Javier Peña to bring us closer to the most radical architecture of Barcelona.