The President inaugurates the fourth edition of the International Architecture Biennial of the Basque Country, Mugak

• The main architectural event of the Atlantic Arc, organised by the Department of Housing, includes a program of a hundred activities in the three Basque capitals until the end of November
• Its central exhibition, ‘Inhabiting change’ is an exhibition in which ten representatives of the sector and the world of the arts show projects linked to the motto of this fourth edition, ‘rebuild, rehabit, rethink’

The President, Iñigo Urkullu, inaugurated the fourth edition of the International Architecture Biennial of the Basque Country, Mugak, organised by the Department of Territorial Planning, Housing and Transport and which will be held until 24 November with a hundred free activities for all citizens in the three Basque capitals.

In an event in which representatives of the world of architecture, design and urbanism (both Basque and state and international) participated, together with people who promote the arts and culture, as well as young professionals in the sector, the President highlighted that: “the Basque Country must adapt cities, towns, neighbourhoods and buildings to the needs of the 21st century and we must do it hand in hand with people; our objective is to spread knowledge and promote participation in this process of rebuilding, re-habiting, rethinking,” referencing the motto of the fourth edition of the Biennial.

This is precisely ‘rebuild, re-inhabit, rethink’, the motto under which the Biennial program delves into the challenges of today's society and how we want to address the future of cities in a context of uncertainty and changes linked to climate change. Among the workshops, conferences, guided tours and exhibitions, there will be three temporary pavilions in public spaces where various activities will take place.

Organized since 2017 by the Basque Government, Mugak reaches this fourth edition as the main architectural event of the Atlantic Arc and aspires to continue growing with respect to its previous edition, which brought together more than 70,000 attendees throughout an entire month of architecture. The Minister for Territorial Planning, Housing and Transport, Iñaki Arriola, has supported the Biennial, saying that it “vindicates the social dimension of architecture and allows Basque citizens to enjoy this discipline and reflect with the main architectural voices at the global level on their challenges and concerns”.

Mugak kicked off its fourth edition on Wednesday with a keynote speech by 2012 Pritzker Prize-winning architect Wang Shu and his partner at Amateur Architecture Studio, Lu Wenyu. In the auditorium of the Kursaal donostiarra, both defended the need to respect what has previously been built and generate a dialogue between the old and the new, in the face of reconstruction models that break with the past. Wang Shu joins names such as Rafael Moneo, Carme Pinós, Sou Fujimoto, Tatiana Bilbao, Alvaro Siza, Rafael Aranda, Rudy Rizzioti, Anne Lacaton and Jean Philippe Vassal, and dozens of prestigious professionals who, over the four editions of Mugak, have approached the Basque Country to engage in conversations with Basque citizens and professionals in the sector.

Reflect on how to inhabit the world

Previously, the President visited the central exhibition of this Biennial, ‘Inhabiting Change’, an exhibition at the Basque Institute of Architecture in which Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu are taking part, as well as the artist Isaac Cordal, the researcher Beatriz Colomina and prestigious studios like Takk or amid.cero9, together with representatives of Basque architecture such as the renowned Acha Zaballa. In total, there are ten voices that give citizens the opportunity to debate society’s major challenges and architecture itself.

During his tour, Iñigo Urkullu met with the curator of this edition of Mugak, the Bilbao architect María Arana, and with both Chinese architects, and saw projects such as a series of eight scale models by Architecture students, who have been taught for 14 years by Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu. The subject is ‘Building with nature’ at the Chinese Academy of Arts, which aims to engage new generations of professionals to address international concepts of sustainable development in a context of cultural revitalisation of architectural construction in their country today.