Piscina Barcelona Debates Water Culture, Architecture and Wellbeing

Within the program of Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture, the Piscina Barcelona show will organize on May 27, at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, the international conference "Water & Space: Designing the Future of Wellbeing", gathering architects and designers to analyze water's role in creating urban and architectural spaces aimed at improving quality of life. The first dialogue will address the relationship between architecture and design with water as a creative impulse and tool for urban transformation, featuring Jorge Arditti (Arditti+RDT), Txell Manresa (Mipmarí) and the Fluidra Foundation. A conversation on water and wellbeing follows, with Paula Bruna (Eme Concepts), Paulo de Sousa (Saraiva + Associados), Juan López Navarro (Savills) and interior designer Isabel López Vilalta. A central axis will be the cross-perspectives round table between Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, with Fernando Rial (KSA Design), Vanessa Alejandra Ortega (Sordo Madaleno), Diego Calderón (DF_DC) and Luis Balaguer (Phiba Architecture). Moderated by David Cámara, director of UNEX, the day will close with a final debate and networking. The event is part of the official program of the UNESCO-UIA distinction that turns Barcelona into a global space for architectural reflection throughout 2026. Piscina Barcelona, organized by Fira de Barcelona with ASOFAP, holds its next edition November 15-18, 2027 at the Gran Via venue.