The XVII Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (BEAU) has commenced its traveling exhibition in Santa Cruz de La Palma, establishing its venue at the Insular Museum. The exhibition, available to the public from April 9th to May 9th, was inaugurated with the presence of prominent figures such as María Isabel Santos Gómez, director of the Insular Museum of La Palma; Mónica Gómez Curiel, insular director of Public Works and Roads of the Cabildo de La Palma; and Iñaqui Carnicero, secretary general of Urban Agenda, Housing and Architecture of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, alongside the BEAU curators, Miguel Ramón and Ander Bados.
Organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda in collaboration with the Superior Council of Spanish Architects' Associations (CSCAE) and the Arquia Foundation, the exhibition's arrival in La Palma included the presentation of the official catalog and two round table discussions. These sessions analyzed the central themes of the awarded projects, fostering a dialogue with the reality and specificities of the Canarian territory.
“"The XVII Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism places at its core a reality that defines our time: a territory built from constant flows of people, energy, materials, and information, which profoundly reconfigure the way we inhabit."
Iñaqui Carnicero emphasized the relevance of the Biennial in addressing architecture as a policy for change, highlighting its active role not only as a response but as a tool capable of influencing the social, environmental, and economic processes that shape our environment. He stressed that La Palma, as the first stop of this edition, offers an ideal context for understanding the dynamics of transformation and the challenges architecture faces in complex and constantly adapting territories.
Under the title Common Flows, the curatorial proposal by Ander Bados and Miguel Ramón is structured around five thematic axes: materials, people, energy, data, and environment. This edition seeks a critical review of traditional architectural practices, analyzing how the discipline adapts to current profound social, economic, and environmental changes, with a focus on collaboration and new relationships between the local and the global.
The XVII BEAU has recognized a total of 55 outstanding proposals in Spanish architecture and urbanism carried out between 2023 and 2024, distributed across categories such as Works, Dissemination and Publications, and Final Degree Projects. The curators highlighted that this collection of works reflects the excellent state of contemporary architecture in Spain, both for the quality of national constructions and for the work of Spanish professionals abroad.
The exhibition, conceived as a collective and non-hierarchical installation, uses the suitcase as a conceptual starting point. These light and deployable structures, functioning as autonomous units with backlit panels, allow for versatile itinerancy and adaptability to various spaces. The exhibition invites visitors to create their own path, fostering critical dialogue and cultural exchange about the built environment.
