Exhibitions
Catalan architecture will travel to Venice with 'Seny i rauxa'
The Institut Ramon Llull will present at the 2027 Architecture Biennial a collective look at 150 years of architectural evolution in Catalonia.
Catalan architecture will have a new international projection with the presentation of Seny i rauxa. Notícia de l'arquitectura catalana in the Catalonia in Venice space, during the Venice Architecture Biennale 2027. The exhibition, promoted by the Institut Ramon Llull coinciding with its 25th anniversary, will bring to Italy an international version of this retrospective exhibition that explores the plurality and richness of architecture made in Catalonia over the last 150 years.
Initially produced by the Barcelona City Council through the Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHub) within the framework of Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture, the exhibition can be seen from May to November 2027 at the Venetian shipyard Docks Cantieri Cucchini, a space that has hosted the Catalan participation in the Architecture Biennial since 2012.
The proposal proposes a revision of the traditional narrative of modern and contemporary Catalan architecture, moving away from a vision based solely on big names or stylistic movements. Through a choral journey, the exhibition establishes connections between different eras and generations, from the origins of the Barcelona School of Architecture, founded in 1875, to the most current projects.
Curated and designed by architects Carme Ribas, Victòria Garriga and Joan Roig, Seny i rauxa recovers hundreds of documents and pieces from archives and warehouses to highlight an often little-visible heritage. The exhibition invites you to explore possible continuities between historical figures such as Berenguer de Montagut, master builder of Santa Maria del Mar, or Pere Blai, responsible for the new facade of the Palau de la Generalitat, and contemporary architects such as Domènech i Montaner, MBM or Harquitectes.
The Venetian version will be part of the Institut Ramon Llull's strategy to continue placing Catalan architecture in one of the main international showcases of the sector. However, this edition will not open the selection process to participate in the Eventi Collaterali of the Biennale. According to the director of the IRL, Anna Guitart, the institution wants to open a reflection with the main agents of the sector to review the Catalan participation model in Venice and prepare a new process for the 2029 Architecture Biennale.
At the same time, the Institut Ramon Llull will continue to support the presence of Catalan and Balearic architects at the Biennale Architettura 2027, which will be held from May 8 to November 21. The final selection will depend on the artistic directors of this edition, the Chinese architects Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, who have chosen Do Architecture—For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Real Reality as the central theme.
Before its international leap, Seny i rauxa can be visited at the Disseny Hub Barcelona until September 6, offering an opportunity to discover a renewed reading of Catalan architecture and the dialogue between past, present and future.
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