Josep Lluís Mateo will be closing Foros 2019, organized by the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture. With the title “Identities”, the programme aims to contribute to the debate on the concept of identity in contemporary architecture, strongly marked by the trends of present-day globalisation.

With a talk entitled “Identities, globalization and contemporary architecture. A personal view”, on 6 May, Josep Lluís will be exploring two opposing forces that interact in our reality: centripetal lines, which introduce elements of connection and interaction, and forces of understanding that take us back to a place and a specific culture.

He will be analysing this dialectic that is very much present in the contemporary world, first in general, as a working condition in the field of architecture, then showing how it is developed in his work.

Foros is an annual cycle of talks in which national and international professionals share their view of architecture through their work. Organized for the second year running in collaboration with BBConstrumat, Foros 2019 is co-directed by Guillem Carabí and Fredy Massad, teachers at the school, who note that “architecture, particularly this century, participates in globalizing dynamics that frequently question its territorial discourse. There are, however, other more specific ways of working that draw on the wisdom of the local”.