Former UIC Barcelona students Álex Muiño and Mireia Luzárraga design the Catalan Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale
The two graduates of UIC Barcelona’s Master’s in Biodigital Architecture, alongside architect Eva Franch, have co-designed the pavilion representing Catalonia for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – a Collateral Event of the 2025 Venice Biennale.
Entitled Water Parliaments: Projective Ecosocial Architectures, the pavilion addresses the global water crisis and explores how architecture can offer responses through “imagination, critical speculation and radical ideas”.
The pavilion – which opened on 10 May and runs until 23 November – features seven case studies that critically engage with urgent issues such as drought and the alteration of water bodies through dam construction. It also proposes architectural responses to unpredictable weather patterns, focusing particularly on the flooding in Valencia.
Water Parliaments is a large-scale installation designed to create a shifting atmosphere, with cycles of mist, bursts of steam and a multisensory play of light and shadow. “Visitors will be immersed in suspended water, allowing them to experience the space both intellectually and physically.”