September 2025 marks a notable occasion for the integration of contemporary architecture with public life in Spain. The annual TAC! Urban Architecture Festival, dedicated to bridging modern architecture with the general public through the construction of installation artworks across multiple cities including Granada, San Sebastián, Valencia, Vigo, and San Fernando, is set to unfold at two distinct venues this year: Casa Mediterráneo in Alicante and Plaza Stagno in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Jointly organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda and Fundación Arquia, the festival aims to drive experimentation and innovation in the architectural field by building temporary pavilions for cultural events and gatherings.
A key tradition of the TAC! Urban Architecture Festival lies in its commitment to nurturing young architectural talent. Each year, the pavilions are selected through an open call exclusively for young architects under the age of 45. This year, after a rigorous evaluation process, the winning entries have been announced. They are the “ESPARTAL” project, a collaborative effort by ELE Arkitektura, GA Estudio, Florencia Galecio, and Juan Gubbins, and the “DE ROCA MADRE” project, designed by Alejandro Carrasco Hidalgo, Eduardo Cilleruelo Terán, Alberto Martínez García, and Andrea Molina Cuadro.
The core theme of TAC! 2025 revolves around exploring the rich cultural connotations “unique to the regional intersections connected by the ocean” and reaffirming that “public spaces, as places of encounter and boundaries, are liminal spaces where history, identity, and ways of living converge.” In line with this theme, the call for projects encouraged architectural works that are rooted in regional characteristics, closely linked to local history, and constructed using traditional materials. A total of 106 proposals were received, and a common thread among many of them was the reuse of materials or the reevaluation of local and traditional materials.
For the winning projects, the jury emphasized that they are “intervention designs that closely align with the physical and social characteristics of the site, highlighting their important role as interactive spaces in the urban fabric.” As first-prize winners, both projects will be awarded a prize of 15,000 euros each, along with a basic budget of approximately 90,000 euros for pavilion construction.
Among the two winning projects, the ESPARTAL pavilion is scheduled to be completed at Casa Mediterráneo in Alicante from October 16 to November 14. Its design draws inspiration from esparto grass, a local material that has nearly fallen out of use in the architectural field. The design team, consisting of ELE Arkitektura, GA Estudio, and architects Florencia Galecio and Juan Gubbins, envisions creating a suspended esparto grass roof. This roof will filter light to form dense shade, providing thermal comfort while regulating the microclimate of Plaza Arquitecto Miguel López.
In the current context of extreme climates, this proposal is highly compatible with the characteristics of the Mediterranean region—statistically, this region is home to the cities in Europe with the longest annual sunshine duration. The ESPARTAL project aims to reverse the declining fate of esparto grass. By connecting agricultural landscapes with the city, it reevaluates the material’s application value, “promoting a broader ecological cycle of material use from environmental, functional, and symbolic perspectives, and highlighting the value of local material culture.”
The DE ROCA MADRE project, the other winning entry, will be erected at Plaza Stagno in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, though specific construction timelines and detailed design implementations for this pavilion are yet to be fully disclosed. Like the ESPARTAL project, it adheres to the festival’s core philosophy of integrating local cultural elements and traditional materials into contemporary architectural practice, promising to become another striking interactive space in the local urban landscape.
The upcoming TAC! 2025 Urban Architecture Festival has already garnered attention from the international architectural community. Industry insiders note that the festival’s focus on local materials and coastal culture not only injects new vitality into the practice of contemporary architecture but also provides a valuable reference for how architectural events can promote the inheritance and innovation of regional cultural heritage. As Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda commented, “The TAC! Urban Architecture Festival has always been committed to making architecture a bridge between culture and the public. This year’s winning projects perfectly embody this concept, and we look forward to seeing them become vivid carriers of Spanish coastal culture.”
In addition, the festival has collaborated with several Spanish architectural universities to launch a series of supporting activities, including on-site observation courses for architecture students, public lectures on regional architectural culture, and youth volunteer programs for pavilion maintenance. These initiatives will make the TAC! 2025 Urban Architecture Festival not only a showcase of excellent architectural works but also an active platform for academic exchange and public cultural education.
