In his presentation of the project, Jaume Prat explained that it is based on the idea that "architecture begins when architects go to work and the life of the building begins. There different landscapes converge: urban, human, social, etc." Among the buildings that are displayed are the Hospital Transfronterer de la Cerdanya by Brullet-Pineda Arquitectes; the Center for food distribution SDA in Campclar, Tarragona, by NUA Arquitectes; the environmental rehabilitation of the banks of the River Llobregat, Batlle and Roig; and the Theatre Atlàntida de Vic by Josep Llinàs, Josep Llobet, Pedro Ayesta and Laia Vives.

Jelena Prokopljević and Isaki Lacuesta explained that in all cases the works shown will be "inhabited" and the reviews of people who use these buildings will be presented in screenings of several materials such as glass that play with transparency, encouraging them to be "passable." The exhibition includes informative panels that will be placed on the floor and a web-doc that will be available as part of the visit.

The director of the Institut Ramon Llull, Àlex Susanna, said that "the bar is very high for 2016” thanks to the strong reception of previous projects, but he is convinced that "with this project we aspire to a similar impact."

Selection process

The jury responsible for choosing the winner was presided by Carme Pinós, an architect with extensive experience and prestigious international awards such as the National Prize for Architecture and Public Spaces of the Government of Catalonia (2008) and the A.plus Prize for career achievement (2008). The other members of the jury include Jordi Ros, architect and director of the ETSAB; Eva Prats, architect; Louis-Xavier Comeron, dean of COAC; Fernando Marzà, Representative of Culture of COAC; and Damià Martinez, director of the area of Creation of the Institut Ramon Llull. The deadline for submitting proposals to tender was opened on 16 June and ended on 1 July. The other two finalists were Arquitectura catalana. Ciutats connectades by Xavier Bustos and Nicola Regusci; and Çeitgeist by Martin Garber, Adrià Goula and 15-L. Films. The jury made special mention of the projects La Terra i la Rella by Roger Miralles and Alteracions by Ferran Grau, Núria Casais and Rafael Mateo. In total 21 projects were submitted.

The 15th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale will take place from 28 May to 27 November 2016 and is curated by Alejandro Aravena from Chile. This will be the third time that Institut Ramon Llull promotes the presence of Catalonia in the Architecture Biennale after the great success of the large public and critical project Vogadors (2012), curated by Jordi Badia and Félix Arranz in 2012 and comprised of new works by young Catalan and Balearic architects; and the project Grafting Architectures (2014), curated by Josep Torrents i Alegre and co-curated by Guillem Carabí and Jordi Ribas. The project Grafting Architectures may be viewed at the Fabra i Coats Contemporary Art Centre.

The team of curators

Jaume Prat (Barcelona, ​​1975) has been an architect with ETSAB since 2002 and received his master's degree in architectural theory and practice from UPC in 2009. He has collaborated with architects Josep Lluís Mateo, Louis Comerón Graupera and RCR architects and has his own studio with Montserrat Farres and Merwan Chaverri since 2002. He is co-author of a collection of Scalae ebooks, author of one of the volumes, author of Digital architecture guide of COAC and the city of Barcelona, ​​among other publications, and author of the blog Arquitectura entre altres solucions.

Jelena Prokopljević (Belgrade, 1972) is an architect from the School of Architecture of the University of Belgrade (1998), completing her doctorate in 2006 at ETSAB. She is a member of the Committee of Experts of the European Prize for Urban Public Space (2014); she collaborated with the Korean Pavilion of the Venice Biennial in 2014, was awarded the Golden Lion, and is part of the Research Group in Current History at UAB. Her publications include the book Corea del Norte: Utopía de hormigón; arquitectura y urbanismo al servicio de una ideología (written with Roger Mateos, 2012). She is author of the blog La ciudad socialista

Isaki Lacuesta (Girona, 1975) is a film director and screenwriter, winner of the Golden Shell at the International Film Festival of San Sebastian for Los pasos dobles (2011). He was also awarded the Gaudí Prize for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Screenplay for Los Condenados (2009). In 2012 he won the National Film Award granted by the Government of Catalonia. His work was exhibited at the retrospective of the National Gallery in Washington in 2013. He is co-curator of the exhibition RCR Arquitectes: Papers, which is currently showing at Arts Santa Mònica. Lacuesta has done audiovisual work complementing drawings and sketches for the architectural firm RCR.

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