The National Colonization Institute (INC) program stimulated Spain's devastated post-war economy through the creation of new irrigation systems. Dams and canals were built that would bring water to three hundred new towns inhabited by settlers, migrants in their own land.

Ana Amado and Andrés Patiño revisit, more than five decades after its completion, an undertaking that transformed the Spanish landscape and the lives of its forgotten protagonists in an integral and planned manner.

Coordinated by: Santiago Varela

In collaboration with: College of Architects of Alicante

Anna Bofill. ABSTRACT CONFERENCE

COMPOSING SPACES AND SOUNDS

Three perspectives: architecture, music, feminism. Composing to give meaning to the forms in which we live. To inhabit them, to listen to them, when one inhabits a space, it is perceived through all the senses. Sounds are there in everything, whether we want them to be or not. We can fill space with created sounds or not, and if there are no sounds, then the natural environment or your own body sounds or resonates. Composing is organizing (chaos). Distributing pure or complex geometries. Organic forms (existing in nature) can be pure or complex as well. Everything can be formalized from a landscape to sounds.

Architecture and urban environments also from other perspectives, music and feminist theories. Examples at different scales from residential complexes to urban fabrics and buildings, and some musical compositions.

Intra-actions with Uriel Fogué.

In its latest reports, the United Nations Environment Programme calls for a "rapid transformation of societies" to address the climate crisis. In them, architecture is identified as one of the basic fields of action where a possible ecological collapse is at stake.

What can we do?

Inaction is not an option. Architecture must shift from its usual positions. This lecture will present four shifts that, we believe, reposition architectural practice within an ecological framework.

Uriel Fogué

Doctor of Architecture (extraordinary award UPM 2015, finalist X BIAU 2016). Professor at the Polytechnic University of Madrid and Columbia University. Was visiting teacher at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne).

Co-directs the architecture office elii, which was part of the Spanish Pavilion at the 18th and 15th Venice Architecture Biennales (the latter, Golden Lion 2016). Among other international recognitions, it has two works selected in the European Union Prize For Contemporary Architecture Mies Van Der Rohe Award (2015, 2019) and one work awarded the Golden Prize Holcim Awards 2023 (together with Husos and Ultrazul, promoted by the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation). His work Yojigen Poketto was selected as one of the 20 visionary domestic spaces of the last 100 years in the exhibition 'Home Stories 100 Years, 20 Visionary Interiors', Vitra Design Museum (2020). He is co-founder of the Crisis Cabinet of Political Fictions.

Ramón Esteve "Design as Sensory Experience. From the City to the Object".

In this presentation, we explore an experiential vision of design, unified by architecture and encompassing all scales, from urban planning projects to object design. We analyze the importance of production processes, both industrial and artisanal, in defining design details that emphasize the conceptualization of each work. We focus on the sensory perception of spaces, conceived as 'design ecosystems', with the aim of promoting the well-being of inhabitants.

MirAcle architects. Sonia Miralles Mud and Arturo Calero Hombre "...something more than a congress center..."

The beach is the public space par excellence. This is where our proposal for the Alicante congress center starts: it is not just about building a structure, but creating a great public space. The proposals and locations that over the last sixty years have tried to make the construction of the palace a reality are so varied that if we were to combine them all on a plan, we would almost be drawing the most significant references and identities of the city: its coast, its neighborhoods, its mountain, its history, its castle, its port and the sea… something more than a congress center…

Coordinates: Santiago Varela

Collaborates: Territorial College of Architects of Alicante.

Flow 81, Architecture LAB: "Swimming Against the Current"

In retrospect, looking back, what has brought us to where we are and what will take us to where we want to go is very simple: being true to ourselves, to our original idea, and to what resonates with us. This seems very easy and straightforward, but it is not. Along the way, you encounter many obstacles that cause that flow to carry you in a current where you lose your focus and essence. This talk is about how to swim against the current in this world and how it is possible if you have the right "stones."

Organized by: Santiago Varela

In collaboration with: College of Architects of Alicante

Elena Orte: "Ecosystem Design at the Gabriel García Márquez Library in Barcelona"

Elena Orte is a graduate architect and holds a Master's degree in Advanced Architectural Design from ETSAM at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. In 2005, she co-founded the SUMA studio in Madrid together with Guillermo Sevillano. She is a lecturer at the IAAC in Catalonia and at the IE in Madrid, and has been an Assistant Professor at ETSAM. Recently, her studio won the Emerging EU Mies Award 2024. She has participated in international juries, seminars and workshops, and her projects have been published in prestigious architecture magazines.

SUMA has won national and international competitions, including libraries and public housing in Spain. Their work has been awarded multiple times, such as the Mies van der Rohe Emerging Award 2024, Best Public Library of the Year 2023 (IFLA), and the First Prize COAM 2023, among others.

The Gabriel García Márquez Library, inaugurated in 2022 in the Sant Martí de Provençals neighborhood, Barcelona, has transformed a "non-place" —a former parking lot behind a police station— into a vibrant civic center. Known as the "Guggenheim of La Verneda," this library stands on an elevated plaza that expands public space and improves pedestrian circulation. Beyond being a knowledge center, the library responds to historical demands of the neighborhood, providing a space for meeting and social cohesion.

The building's design, inspired by volumes stacked like books, combines a laminated wood structure and steel elements, achieving the largest exposure of wood in Europe to date. Accredited with LEED Gold certification, the library stands out for its sustainability strategies, such as photovoltaic panels, rainwater reuse, and a ventilated facade.

Organized around a triangular courtyard, the library offers versatile spaces that promote social interaction and the exchange of ideas. Its innovative design has been recognized as the Best Public Library in the World in 2023 and the Mies van der Rohe Emerging Award 2024. Since its opening, it has strengthened social bonds in the neighborhood, becoming a cultural and social landmark, affectionately known as a "Palace of the People". Organizes: Santiago Varela

Collaborates: College of Architects of Alicante

House, swimming pool, school. Diego Jiménez of DJarquitectura.

Diego Jiménez López (Motril, 1972), Doctor of Architecture, professor at the School of Architecture of Málaga since 2010. Co-founder of the architecture studio DJarquitectura since 2001.

Among current projects, the development of the Málaga Litoral Plan project stands out, following the first prize in the international competition for the integration of the Málaga port-city. He was recently selected with his transformation project of the Fine Arts courtyard for the exhibition "The Construction of a Country" which showcases a tour of approximately sixty-five models of buildings constructed in Spain by Spanish architects from the transition to the present day. Organized by ES- the House of Architecture of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda.

He has participated by presenting research proposals on housing in the EUROPAN forums while exhibiting these works in Athens (Greece), Lisbon (Portugal), Dordrecht (Netherlands), Neuchatel (Switzerland), Vienna (Austria), Madrid, Alcorcón and Ceuta (Spain), Helsinki (Finland).

He has exhibited his work at the CCCB in Barcelona, Andalusian Center of Contemporary Art in Seville. Selected in the exhibition "Couples & Co.: 22 Mirror Stories on Spanish Architecture" in Berlin, Hamburg, Seville and Granada. School of Arts of the University of Évora (Portugal) within the framework of Mostra Espanha 2015. Cibeles Center for Culture and Citizenship, Madrid. School of Design at Tongji University, Shanghai.

Coordinates: Santiago Varela

Collaborates: College of Architects of Alicante

The 21st Alicante Film Festival invites you to participate in the free activities of FASHION CINEMA.

Wednesday, May 22 at 5:30 PM. Round table discussion "Walking the Red Carpet, the Goyas and other film events"

This round table will address the peculiarities involved in combining the perfect shoes with the styling of actors and actresses to attend major film events. The discussion will be moderated by Manuela Laguna, with the participation of Joaquín Abellán, general director of Lodi, Mercedes Abellán, retail and communications director of Lodi, and Pepe Amat, co-owner of Magrit.

Thursday, May 23 at 5:30 PM. Masterclass "The Creative Process Through Costume Design"

A journey behind the scenes into the fascinating world of creating unique design pieces, where creativity and talent unite with technique to bring to life the most iconic looks. We will meet talents from our land, Alicante, such as designer Gustavo Adolfo Tari and Darsy Mogica, designer and instructor at CUE Formación.

Friday, May 24 at 6 PM. Fashion Cinema Award. Meeting with costume designer Clara Bilbao".

Costume designer, winner of three Goya Awards for Best Costume Design. Daughter of a seamstress, she graduated from the Superior Center for Design and Fashion in Madrid at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, specializing in scenic costume design. In 1994 she began working in audiovisuals and in 1996 she made her debut as a costume designer with the short film "The Eight O'Clock Train". In 1998 she designed the costumes for her first feature film, Quince. She received recognition with "Blackthorn", with which she won her first Goya Award for Best Costume Design. In 2013 she directed the short film Efímera, which received the Jury Prize at the Medina del Campo Film Week. In 2016 she won her second Goya Award for Best Costume Design for "Nobody Wants the Night" by Isabel Coixet. In 2019 she won the Goya Award for Best Costume Design again for "The Shadow of the Law", for which she received the Maestro Mateo Award for Best Costume Design.

May 18-25. Exhibitions

"Movie Shoes". The exhibition features 12 pairs of shoes that will immerse us in iconic films such as Gandhi, Memoirs of a Geisha, Titanic, Rocky, and The Woman in Red. We will be able to see the ballet flats that Audrey Hepburn wore and that gave their name to the famous "Sabrina flats". The two-tone dance shoes worn by Fred Astaire in "Swing Time" with Ginger Rogers and observe up close the details of the footwear from "Dangerous Liaisons". We will have the shoes from Viridiana, a film by Luis Buñuel with Fernando Rey and Silvia Pinal.

"Costume Design Sketches by Clara Lago" Exhibition of original sketches by designer Clara Bilbao. We will be able to see the sketches from the film Nobody Wants the Night by Isabel Coixet (2016) with which she won her 2nd Goya dressing Juliette Binoche and The Shadow of the Law, Nobody Wants the Night, Teresa, among others.

"Dresses Made of Paper". Dresses from the films Blackthorn, The Shadow of the Law and Teresa by Clara Bilbao. The Apple of My Eye, The Others, While War Lasts and Midnight in Paris by Sonia Grande made of paper by EASDA students.

Francisco Picó. Architect. The Dream of Modernity. Tales of a Bridge.

From the account of the adventure of the project and construction of the San Jorge de Alcoy bridge, as a pretext, with a perspective from the present day, we will observe the fate of the dream of modernity at the end of the twenties of the last century, of an architect, an engineer, a construction company, and a city.

Coordinated by: Santiago Varela

In collaboration with: Territorial College of Architects.