On 9 February, the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture will inaugurate a new edition of the Foros series of lectures, an unmissable annual event in the field of architecture and urban planning. The official programme will run until the end of April with two sessions per month and free admission until seating capacity is complete. It will also be possible to stream these sessions online.
Titled “The leap into the void”, Foros 2022 aims to heighten self-awareness about architecture today in its different aspects and fields of application. As a new feature, the lecture series is introducing a new format based on a two-way dialogue between professionals from the sector who will partake in sessions structured by themes linked to current architectural practice and the challenges facing the sector.
The series is being directed by lecturer Juan Trias de Bes and coordinated by the School’s Projects Department. The ‘leap into the void’ expresses the moment of action that lies between decision-making and the realisation of its effects. The field of architecture has experienced such moments throughout the course of history. The current challenges (environmental, humanitarian and socio-economic) are presented as vectors that will mark the evolution of times to come, that is, the times that those now studying architecture will have to face”, explains the director of the lecture series.
Six lectures structured by theme
The series kicks off on 9 February with a lecture titled “The dissolution of functional typology”, which will address the accelerated transformation of habitat requirements (housing models, workspaces, urban space and even places of leisure) to respond to the inexorable renewal of the socio-economic reality. This first session will be led by Luis Basabe, founding partner of the architecture studio Arenas Basabe Palacios, and Rosa Rull i Bertran, founding partner of +ADDARQUITECTURA.
The second lecture titled “The architect as a researcher” will be held on 23 February. This session will delve into the subject of research as a unique space for architectural activity and a field of opportunity for architects. We will be joined by Davide Zampini, director of Research and Global Development at CEMEX and Oriol Carrasco, lecturer at UIC Barcelona School of Architecture.
The series continues on 9 March with another lecture titled “Evolving technologies”, which will explore the evolution of construction systems associated with digital technologies and their adaptation to the socio-economic and environmental framework. This session will feature Andrea Deplazes, architect and lecturer at the Department of Architecture of ETH Zürich, and Jordi Faulí i Oller, head architect of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
The fourth session will be held on 23 March under the title “Environmental commitment”. This session will take a closer look at this recurring concept in architecture, which proves difficult to evaluate in the short term through architectural and urban intervention. This session will be led by Bruno Sauer, CEO of Green Building Council Spain, and architect Andrés Perea Ortega, member of the scientific committee of the Sustainability and Architecture Association (ASA).
The series continues on 6 April with the session “The future of tradition”, which will analyse the growing importance of architectural interventions on urban pre-existences given their greater efficiency in constructive and energetic terms and their inherent capacity to incorporate identity and tectonic values into the work of architecture. This session will feature Marc Aureli Santos, director of Urban Architecture and Heritage services for Barcelona City Council, as well as Dr Izaskun Chinchilla, architect and full professor of Architectural Practice at the Bartlett School of Architecture (University College London).
Foros 2022 will draw to a close on 26 April with the session “Evolutions of the metropolis”, which will analyse the potential evolution and/or strategic approaches of two metropolitan cities. This closing session will be led by Alfonso Vegara, founder and honourable president of the Metrópoli Foundation (an international centre for excellence dedicated to research, design and innovation in cities around the world), as well as by Josep Bohigas, general director of the urban development agency, Barcelona Regional.
