Exhibitions
Gaudí opens windows to the future in Tokyo
An exhibition at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT connects the Gaudí universe with contemporary Japanese architecture.
From May 16 to July 12, 2026, the city of Tokyo will host Gaudí: Windows into the Future , an exhibition that brings the visionary spirit of Antoni Gaudí to the heart of the Japanese cultural scene. The exhibition is presented in Gallery 3 of the 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT design center, within the Tokyo Midtown complex, and is part of both the Tokyo Architecture Festival 2026 and the Catalonia-Japan Year.
Organised by the Palau Güell and the Japanese company YKK AP, the exhibition proposes a contemporary reading of Gaudí's legacy based on an essential but often symbolic element in his architecture: the window. More than a simple constructive component, Gaudí's openings become spaces of connection between nature, light, city and imagination. With the inauguration in the Japanese capital, delegate Mònica Castellà Pujadó met with the cultural and scientific attaché Fernando Curcio; the president of the Culture Area of the Barcelona Provincial Council, Pau Gonzàlez Val; and the director of Tourism of Catalonia in Japan, Raül Guerra.
The Japanese event coincides with the centenary of the death of Antoni Gaudí and acts as an international extension of the large central exhibition presented at the Palau Güell in Barcelona between April and October 2026. In the case of Tokyo, however, the project adopts a more experimental format and dialogues with Japanese architectural sensibility, especially with the relationship between interior and exterior, the permeability of spaces and the prominence of natural light.
The presence of the exhibition within the Tokyo Architecture Festival reinforces this desire for cultural conversation between Catalonia and Japan. It is no coincidence that Gaudí's work continues to arouse fascination in the Asian country: his organic conception of architecture, the integration of applied arts and attention to artisanal details connect deeply with many Japanese aesthetic traditions.
The Tokyo exhibition also functions as a preview of a traveling project that will continue its journey in the Japanese city of Toyama and that also includes several temporary exhibitions in Gaudí spaces in Catalonia and the publication of a commemorative publication.
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