Water as an Invisible Substance

On May 27, the Enric Miralles Foundation, in collaboration with Roca Barcelona Gallery, presented the discussion “Water as an Invisible Material: Water Hidden in Materials,” part of the “Architecture for Human, Urban, and Planetary Well-Being” program, an event held as part of Barcelona World Capital of Architecture 2026. The exhibition invited visitors to rethink the relationship between architecture, water resources, and production processes from environmental, material, and cultural perspectives.

This dialogue was based on a fundamental premise: much of the water that sustains our cities, materials, and ways of life remains invisible. In this context, the concept of the “Architecture of Virtual Water” emerges as a critical tool for understanding the real impact of design on ecosystems and on the production models that underpin contemporary architecture.

The issue is no longer simply how to manage visible water in buildings and cities, but how to understand and transform the invisible water footprint embedded in materials, production processes, and the global systems that shape both contemporary architecture and our ways of life.

Through a dialogue between architecture, research, and water governance, the session explored how design can help foster new forms of environmental awareness and responsibility.

In this context, the participation of Eva Franch i Gilabert—a driving force behind initiatives such as Water Parliaments and editor of *100 Words for Water*—broadened the discussion to include cultural, political, and speculative dimensions of water. Her work proposes understanding water not only as a resource or infrastructure, but as an agent capable of reshaping contemporary conceptions of architecture, territory, and collective life, opening up new avenues for critical thinking about the ecologies of the future.

During the session, attendees had the opportunity to visit the recently inaugurated pavilion designed by EMBT Architects for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, which is now on display as a permanent installation at the Roca Barcelona Gallery through 2026. The “Architecture of Virtual Water” pavilion stems from research conducted in collaboration with Waterspace, a collaborative initiative co-curated with NEWAVE and promoted by the Enric Miralles Foundation.

Through an immersive, multisensory experience, the project reveals the invisible flows of water embedded in materials, infrastructure, and global production chains that underpin both contemporary architecture and the way we live.

The dialogue is part of the program “Architecture for Human, Urban, and Planetary Well-being,” promoted by the Enric Miralles Foundation. It is a platform for research and debate that explores the transformative role of architecture in addressing major contemporary challenges.

Speakers:

– BENEDETTA TAGLIABUE
Co-founder and Principal Architect at EMBT Architects; Founder and President of the Enric Miralles Foundation

– JAMPEL DELL`ANGELLO
Associate Professor of Water Governance and Policy at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam), Principal Investigator at NEWAVE, and Director of SENSE

– EVA FRANC I GILABERT
Architect, curator, and researcher; co-founder of FAST; professor at UMPRUM in Prague and at Columbia University in New York; co-author of the book *100 Words for Water* (2025)

– MODERATOR: ARTURO GARCÍA
Manager, Roca Gallery Barcelona

This event is part of the program for Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture, a distinction awarded by UNESCO and the International Union of Architects (UIA) to the city hosting the UIA World Congress of Architects, and transforms it into a global forum for architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture. From February 12 to December 13, a multidisciplinary program will be presented in collaboration with schools, universities, and professional and cultural organizations throughout Catalonia.

Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture is supported by the Barcelona City Council, the Government of Catalonia, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

The “Architecture of Virtual Water” Pavilion is an initiative funded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda.