The 68th annual FAD Awards have successfully unveiled their 2026 winners, serving as a powerful and precise barometer for contemporary architecture across the Iberian Peninsula.
This year, the professional jury explicitly prioritized the intelligent rehabilitation, historic reuse, and holistic renaturalization of our existing urban fabric over new expansion. As passionate chroniclers of Barcelona’s rich architectural landscape, we find this profound social and ecological paradigm shift deeply inspiring for our collective tour community.
Infinito Delicias y Recircular l’Eixample (Photos José Hevia)
Reflecting this vision, the main FAD Architecture Prize was awarded ex aequo to two truly transformative interventions. In Barcelona, “Recircular l’Eixample” by Flexoarquitectura and addenda architects brilliantly reorganizes a consolidated block in the popular Sagrada Família neighborhood, weaving public facilities to regenerate local human flows. In Madrid, “Edificio para Infinito Delicias” by Husos and elii converts an old industrial shell into a community-focused bioclimatic ecosystem now.
The Re-FAD Award, which recognizes the best interventions in rehabilitation, reuse, and regeneration, went to Meritxell Inaraja’s L’Anònima Manresana in Barcelona.
L’Anònima Manresana, Meritxell Inaraja Photo Adrià Goula
The FAD International category highlighted cross-border design excellence with Barozzi Veiga and Tab Architects’ remarkable Abby Kortrijk project in Belgium, which masterfully reimagines the historic Groeninge Abbey into a contemporary artistic venue.
Meanwhile, crucial intellectual discourse was celebrated through the Thought and Criticism Prize. It was awarded ex aequo to Marina Otero Verzier’s insightful “Flotando en litio” and Anna Bofill Levi’s pioneering “Hacia la ecomorfología. Entre la utopía y la realidad” (edited by Ana Gilsanz), highlighting the vital theoretical frameworks that drive eco-conscious spatial design today.
Canòpia Urbana – Àmbit Túnels. Photo: Fernando Lua+Droneit / BIMS
Urban landscapes also saw a remarkable shift with the City and Landscape Prize going to “Canòpia Urbana – Àmbit Túnels” at Plaça de les Glòries. Designed by Agence TER, ACPA, and Meta Engineering, it dynamically replaces 20th-century concrete with a highly permeable, climate-resilient, and biodiverse public park.
Ultimately, these outstanding awards showcase an architecture of careful mediation between memory and future challenges—ideals we enthusiastically explore on our daily professional architectural walks through Barcelona’s ever-evolving streets.