On 19 December, the rector of UIC Barcelona, Xavier Gil, and the mayor of the Sant Joan Despí City Council, Antoni Poveda, signed a cooperation agreement to organise the International Symposia on Josep Maria Jujol. These symposia, which will take place in late September, will be directed by UIC Barcelona School of Architecture lecturer Guillem Carabí, an expert on the work of the Tarragona-born architect and the author of numerous books and articles about his architectural legacy. 

The programme provides for the holding of two framework lectures, which will put Jujol’s work and persona in context. Afterwards, there will be short presentations by six speakers, followed by a lengthy discussion to exchange ideas and views. The final activity will be a round table with active architects who, in their current projects, have taken an approach reminiscent of that used by Jujol in his work. According to the lecturer, “Directing these symposia provides the opportunity to achieve what I feel is the basic and fundamental function of an institution of learning: to give back to society a service that, in this case, takes concrete shape in the form of knowledge transfer”. The event schedule also includes a trip to the Camp de Tarragona region, home to some of Jujol’s most characteristic works. 

The symposia will mark the end of “Jujol Year 140”, a series of cultural and promotional activities organised by the Sant Joan Despí City Council throughout the year to commemorate the 140th anniversary of the architect’s birth. Josep Maria Jujol is one of the most singular Catalan architects from the early 20th century. His most famous works include Casa Planells (Barcelona), Can Negre (Sant Joan Despí) and Casa Bofarull (Els Pallaresos, Tarragona).