How much water is contained in what we cannot see?
Hidden Water in Materials
Wednesday, May 27 | 7:00 PM
ROCA Barcelona Gallery
Carrer de Joan Güell, Les Corts, 08028 Barcelona
Free admission
As part of the program “Architecture for Human, Urban and Planetary Wellbeing†of Barcelona World Capital of Architecture 2026, the Fundació Enric Miralles, together with ROCA Barcelona Gallery, presents the dialogue “Water as Invisible Matterâ€, a meeting that invites us to rethink the relationship between architecture, water resources and production processes from an environmental, material and cultural perspective.
This dialogue is based on a fundamental premise: much of the water that sustains our cities, materials and ways of life remains invisible. In this context, the concept of Architecture of Virtual Water emerges as a critical tool for understanding the real impact of design on ecosystems and on the production models that support contemporary architecture.
Developed by EMBT Architects for the Biennale Architettura di Venezia 2025 and now presented as a permanent installation at ROCA Barcelona Gallery for 2026, the pavilion Architecture of Virtual Water stems from research developed jointly with W a t e r s p a c e, a collaborative initiative co-curated with NEWAVE and promoted by the Fundació Enric Miralles. Through an immersive and multisensory experience, the project reveals the invisible flows of water embedded in materials, infrastructures and global production chains that sustain both contemporary architecture and our ways of inhabiting space.
In this context, the participation of Eva Franch i Gilabert, promoter of initiatives such as Water Parliaments and editor of 100 Words for Water, expands the discussion toward a cultural, political and speculative dimension of water. Her work proposes understanding water not only as a resource or infrastructure, but as an agent capable of reshaping contemporary imaginaries of architecture, territory and collective life, opening new forms of critical thinking around the ecologies of the future.
The question is no longer only how to manage visible water in buildings and cities, but how to understand and transform the invisible water footprint embedded in materials, production processes and global systems that shape both contemporary architecture and our ways of life.
Through dialogue between architecture, research and water governance, the session will explore how design can contribute to generating new forms of material awareness and environmental responsibility.
Healing Architectures: Designing Spaces of Care | Fundació Enric Miralles
CC Magazine features the exhibition Healing Architectures: Designing Spaces of Care, currently on view at Fundació Enric Miralles.
The publication explores the exhibition’s approach to architecture as a tool for care, focusing on how spatial design can contribute to emotional wellbeing and support healing processes. Through projects, research and interdisciplinary perspectives, the feature reflects on the evolving relationship between architecture, health and society.
Photo Credit: Lluc Miralles
Naples, Italy
On 18 March, a press visit to the Naples Underground Central Station took place, bringing together journalists from Spain and Italy for a guided tour led by Benedetta Tagliabue.
The visit offered an in-depth look at the project’s design, development and urban impact, highlighting its role as a key infrastructure within the city. Recently awarded the BIG SEE Architecture Award 2026 (Infrastructure category) and First Prize at The Plan Awards 2025, the project has also been shortlisted for the EU Mies van der Rohe Award and the FAD Awards 2025.
Through the visit, Benedetta shared insights into the project’s concept, process and architectural vision, guiding participants through the space and its relationship with the surrounding urban context.
Photo Credit: Paolo Fassoli
Madrid, Spain
As part of REBUILD 2026, Benedetta Tagliabue took part in three sessions, contributing to ongoing discussions on contemporary architectural practice and its social and cultural dimensions.
On Tuesday 24 March, she joined the roundtable “Arquitectura de la Mujer en Italia. La Nueva Generación Italiana de Arquitectasâ€, alongside Ilaria Nava and Alessia Galimberti. The conversation addressed the growing visibility of women in Italian architecture, highlighting a new generation defined by inclusive approaches, urban regeneration, as well as key initiatives promoting gender equality within the discipline.
On Wednesday 25 March, Benedetta Tagliabue also participated in the session “La industrialización como oportunidad para afrontar el reto del acceso a la vivienda e impulsar la calidad de la arquitecturaâ€. Bringing together voices from across the sector, including Chus Barroso, Iñaqui Carnicero, Francesco Marinelli, Arturo Franco DÃaz and Antón GarcÃa-Abril, the discussion explored industrialisation as a strategic tool to address housing accessibility while enhancing architectural quality, fostering innovation, and promoting more efficient and sustainable construction processes. The session was moderated by Laura Delgado.
On Wednesday 25 March, Benedetta Tagliabue participated as a featured speaker in “Dos visiones, dos manerasâ€, together with Santiago Cirugeda, moderated by Pati Núñez. The session brought into dialogue two distinct architectural positions: Tagliabue’s context-driven, poetic and large-scale practice, and Cirugeda’s socially engaged, participatory approach based on self-management and urban activism. The exchange explored their differing methodologies and the potential for collaboration across contrasting frameworks.
EXHIBITION —THE ARCHITECTURE OF VIRTUAL WATER
Roca Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
Now on view at Roca Barcelona Gallery until November 2026, The Architecture of Virtual Water continues to invite visitors into an immersive exploration of water as an invisible, yet fundamental system embedded within our socio-environmental networks.
Originally presented at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the installation unfolds through an interdisciplinary collaboration led by Benedetta Tagliabue — EMBT Architects, together with Jampel Dell’Angelo (science), Yeshi Silvano Namkhai (music) and Ati Sphere (digital visual arts). Bridging scientific research and artistic experimentation, the project offers a sensory journey into water’s hidden dimensions, encouraging reflection on its essential role in sustaining life and shaping contemporary societies.
Visit
Roca Barcelona Gallery — free admission
Monday to Friday, 10:00H – 19:00H
More information: https://www.rocabarcelonagallery.com/events/opening-the-architecture-of-virtual-water
Photo credit: Lluc Miralles
Benedetta Tagliabue — EMBT Architects | Arquine
We are happy to share the release of Weaving Architecture, the new monographic volume on Benedetta Tagliabue EMBT Architects, published by Arquine. Bringing together a selection of the studio’s projects, the book offers a focused insight into EMBT’s methodology, tracing ideas from early intuition and material exploration through to their architectural resolution.
Illustrated with visual archives from EMBT Architects, the publication is structured through project narratives, texts and interviews with Miquel Adrià , Josep Maria Montaner, Rafael Moneo, Igor Peraza Curiel, Manuela Lucá-Dazio, Kazuyo Sejima, Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley. A continuous discourse by Benedetta Tagliabue runs across the volume, complemented by project-specific reflections.
On Sant Jordi Day (23 April), Benedetta Tagliabue will be signing copies of the book at La Capell (Barcelona) from 13:30H. The book will also be presented on 24 April at La Casa de la Arquitectura in Madrid, with further details to be announced soon through our Instagram channels for both events.
Photo Credit: Arquine
Thursday, April 9 | 19:00H
Fundació Enric Miralles
Passatge de la Pau 10 bis, 08002 Barcelona
Free admission
Can artistic creation become a tool for care and resilience?
As part of Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture, Fundació Enric Miralles presents this interdisciplinary dialogue exploring the role of art in emotional wellbeing and care. Bringing together voices from psychology, architecture, art and cultural research, the conversation reflects on creativity as an emotional mediator, supporting processes of adaptation, resilience and wellbeing.
The session features Pilar Cortada, Jordi Comas, Guila Fidel and Adriana JarrÃn. Beyond its aesthetic dimension, art emerges as a cultural infrastructure of care: a system capable of supporting, accompanying, and transforming human experience. In this sense, architecture expands, incorporating sensory, affective, and relational dimensions that place well-being at the center of the contemporary project.
The event is part of the public programme of the exhibition Healing Architectures: Designing Spaces of Care, developed between the Yale School of Architecture and Benedetta Tagliabue, Miralles Tagliabue EMBT Architects, reflecting on architecture as a tool for emotional and physical support.
Fundació Enric Miralles, Barcelona, Spain | 12 February 2026 | 18.30H
We invite you to the open conversation Hospital Humanization, part of the public programme of the exhibition Healing Architectures: Designing Spaces of Care. Taking place at Fundació Enric Miralles as part of Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture, the event will be held on 12 February at 18.30H and will be followed by a cocktail reception.
The conversation brings together professionals from architecture, healthcare and hospital management, including Mari Àngels Aceituno (Deputy Director of Nursing and Head of the Humanization Committee, Vall d’Hebron University Hospital), VÃctor Gassó (Deputy Director of Works, Vall d’Hebron University Hospital), Júlia Areny (Head of Marketing, Vall d’Hebron University Hospital), and Joan Reventós (Director of the Kálida Sant Pau Centre). The discussion invites reflection on how architecture can support wellbeing, transforming spaces into environments of comfort, healing, and belonging.
On view at Fundació Enric Miralles until 10 April 2026, with free admission, Monday to Friday from 10.00H to 14.00H and from 15.00H to 19.00H.
With the support of: Yale School of Architecture . Fundació Kálida, Fundació Privada Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau . Vall d’Hebron University Hospital . Maggie’s Centres Network . Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture . EMBT Architects. Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture is supported by the Barcelona City Council, the Government of Catalonia and the Spanish Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda.
More information: https://fundacioenricmiralles.com/actividades/the-architecture-of-care_yale-university/
McCormick Gallery, Boston Architectural College, USA | Until 10 May 2026
Healing Spaces brings together four EMBT projects that explore care and wellbeing through architecture shaped by emotional and spiritual experience. The exhibition includes the Kálida Sant Pau Centre in Barcelona, the San Giacomo Church in Ferrara, the Dzamling Gar Centre in Tenerife, and a Centre for Contemporary Research in Castellina.
The projects are presented through fourteen collages displayed on curved acrylic panels. Collage is a technique frequently used at EMBT as a narrative and emotional tool to convey atmosphere and meaning.
In collaboration with students from the Boston Architectural College, two workshops were held to develop a collective contribution to the exhibition. The outcome includes a large vertical collage banner displayed in the gallery and a performative intervention on the facade, where a frieze composed of project fragments is installed across the gallery windows, inviting passers-by to pause, observe and engage.
The exhibition is open from 4 February to 10 May 2026, with free admission at the McCormick Gallery, Boston Architectural College.
More information:
https://the-bac.edu/events-index/healing-spaces-mccormick-gallery-exhibit