This competition invites architecture professionals to design ephemeral installations that integrate innovation, sustainability and dialogue with the urban environment in the context of the sixth Basque Country International Architecture Biennial, MUGAK/.

The MUGAK/ Biennial, organised by the Department of Housing and Urban Agenda of the Basque Government, will hold its sixth edition in the 3 Basque capitals from October to November 2027, consolidating its position as one of the main architectural events of the Atlantic Arc. The winning proposal will be built and used during the sixth Mugak Biennial.

Following the jury’s decision, the authors of the winning proposals will receive a prize of €10,000 + VAT in the form of fees for the development of the detailed project and management of its execution, considering a maximum construction budget of €50,000 + VAT.

The competition includes the design of the installation and, in the case of the winning team, the management of its execution. The organisers of the Basque Country International Architecture Biennial Mugak/ will collaborate in the development and construction of the winning proposal in coordination with the selected team.

Appropiate, aesthetic, affordable

Who cares about architecture? Does it matter to ordinary people? Why does it not have a place on the prime-time news?

Why is it natural to debate gastronomy, fashion, sport, technology or mental health, while it remains so difficult to open a public conversation about the spatial quality of the places where life unfolds?

What role do we, as professionals, play when we limit our practice to the bureaucratic fulfilment of laws, protocols and administrative procedures, while the profession struggles with precarity and a lack of qualified labour? How can economic fairness, labour justice and aesthetic quality be sustained at the same time, without one dimension prevailing over the others?

“Appropiate, aesthetic, affordable” is one of those mottos that everyone understands and almost no one fully believes. A commercial slogan, the promise of a bargain, a piece of popular wisdom turned into a catchphrase. Something suspicious, which leads us to assume that one of the three conditions will inevitably fail.

Precisely for this reason, this common and apparently minor expression opens up a way of thinking about the present: it allows us to name the tension between ethics, aesthetics and economy, and to ask to what extent something can be simultaneously fair, beautiful and accessible.

• on the curatorial text here

The ephemeral architectures will be installed in the three Basque capitals, in the following locations:

• San Sebastián: Balcón del Bicentenario, Fleming Monument, Paseo de la Concha

The Balcón del Bicentenario is located on Paseo de la Concha, at a point of transition between Donostia-San Sebastián’s urban fabric and the visual opening towards the bay. Its condition as a viewpoint makes it a place of pause from which to contemplate one of the city’s most recognisable panoramas, with La Concha beach, the Cantabrian Sea and the profile of the surrounding hills framing the landscape.

This site, associated with Chillida’s sculpture, brings together landscape and symbolic value, as part of a highly frequented urban route particularly appreciated by both residents and visitors. Its reduced scale and strategic position foster a direct relationship with the surroundings, making it an ideal place to stop, observe and activate new readings of the city and its seafront.

Download intervention area plan in Donostia-San Sebastián

• Bilbao: Plaza Profesionales Sanitarios, Termibus - Bilbao Intermodal

Plaza Profesionales Sanitarios is located next to Bilbao Intermodal station, in an area of great urban and functional intensity, marked by the constant flow of people and its connection with different modes of transport. Its location makes it a space of passage, encounter and arrival, inserted into one of the city’s most dynamic gateways.

The square is close to one of the UPV/EHU university hubs in Bilbao, making it a place used daily by many students. It is also a transport interchange point — metro, train and bus — with a high flow of people, articulating mobility within the city and its surroundings. In addition, the area has undergone a significant urban transformation: it is located near the towers designed by Richard Rogers within the Garellano Special Plan, where a very substantial number of homes is currently being built, radically redefining the image and use of the space.

Download intervention area plan in Bilbao

• Vitoria-Gasteiz: Plaza de los Fueros

Plaza de los Fueros in Vitoria-Gasteiz is an emblematic space located in the heart of the city, designed by Basque architect Luis Peña Ganchegui. Its construction, begun in 1975 and opened to the public in 1982, responds to a symbolic programme commemorating the Basque fueros, integrating art, tradition and historical memory in the city centre. This year marks its 50th anniversary, reinforcing its value as a significant heritage work of contemporary Basque architecture.

The square combines architectural modernity with empirical components of popular tradition, reflecting the tradition-modernity duality characteristic of Peña Ganchegui’s work. Its design engages with the site’s topography, urban scale and historic surroundings, using a materiality that has generated debate since its construction, adding a critical dimension to its heritage value.

With its central location, the square is a place where many people gather to enjoy cultural events, concerts and festivities, such as the Fiestas de La Blanca. Its character as an open public space makes it an ideal setting for interventions that activate its perception, enhance the user experience and establish new narratives around the identity of Vitoria-Gasteiz, especially in this commemorative year.

Download intervention area plan in Vitoria-Gasteiz

The competition is open to architecture professionals from all over the world, either individually or as part of a team. Teams may be interdisciplinary, provided that they include at least one person legally qualified to practise architecture.

The competition will be conducted anonymously. Participants must therefore submit their proposal in separate documents, as established in section 11 of these rules.

The identity of the team will only be revealed after the jury’s final decision, thus ensuring impartiality in the evaluation of the proposals.

Each participant may only be part of one team, either as lead participant or collaborator, and may submit only one proposal. Should it be detected that the same participant is part of several teams, both proposals will be automatically disqualified.

The project has a maximum budget of €50,000 + VAT for its execution.

This budget includes:

• Production of the materials and components of the ephemeral architecture
• Assembly and dismantling work
• Necessary auxiliary resources
• Transport and logistics
• Production of informative graphic elements

A prize of €10,000 will be awarded at each location for the winning teams, with a second prize of €1,000 and 1 runner-up prize.

The winning team will be commissioned to develop the detailed project and direct the installation assembly, taking into account the following tasks and obligations:

1. Draft the technical execution project for the installation, including site plans, elevations and sections, as well as the graphic information and assembly details required to implement the proposal, together with a technical justification of the regulations applicable to the installation.
2. Collaborate with the production team and partners in technical and material decision-making.
3. Supervise the execution of the installation, including design, transport management, assembly and dismantling, health and safety, municipal permits and any other actions required for the proper execution of the work. For the tasks related to material execution management and Health and Safety coordination, the winning teams will be supported by a local master builder or technical architecture professional, appointed for each city through a competition organised by the Professional Associations of Technical Architects of Biscay, Gipuzkoa and Álava.
4. The winning team, as well as the organisation, may propose sponsors, which will be assessed and approved, where appropriate, by consensus.
5. The organisation may suggest that the authors introduce certain modifications to specific details, such as content, uses, materials or graphic information related to the Biennial. Under no circumstances will the suggested changes substantially alter the idea of the proposed work.
6. Design any complementary material that may be required for the proper execution of the proposal.
7. Apply the graphic identity of the Mugak/ Biennial to the work, including the design of supports and any associated auxiliary elements.
8. The winning team will be contracted through a service provision agreement, which must be formalised before 31 December 2026.

Note: Should the entities convening the competition consider, on the basis of reports verified and validated by reliable entities, that the Execution Project is not technically or economically viable and that, consequently, the winning proposal cannot be implemented, the convening entity reserves the right to award the commission to the second finalist proposal.

The work schedule is as follows:

• 20/07/2026: Launch of the competition
• 18/09/2026: Deadline for submission of proposals
• 15/10/2026: Deadline for publication of the jury’s decision
• 31/12/2026: Submission of the execution project
• 31/03/2027: Start of production
• 27/09/2027: Start of assembly
• 07/10/2027: Opening in Donostia-San Sebastián
• 14/10/2027: Opening in Bilbao
• 21/10/2027: Opening in Vitoria-Gasteiz
• 15/11/2027: Start of dismantling works

The proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. Architectural and spatial quality: The design will be evaluated from an aesthetic and functional point of view, assessing the quality of the space created and its ability to generate meaningful experiences for the citizens.
2. Relationship with the environment: Integration of the design with the chosen site.

• Link with the theme: The extent to which the proposal corresponds with the theme of the 5th Mugak/ Biennial.

1. Degree of innovation: Capacity to propose novel architectural solutions.
2. Coherence of construction: The structure must be functional and appropriate for the established temporary use. The proposal must take into account the contemplated logic with respect to materials, specifically those related to 3D printing.
3. Technical and financial feasibility: Possibility of construction within the established budget and deadlines.

• Environmental impact: Life cycle approach of the proposal, circular economy and end-of-life scenario, waste minimisation and consideration of the 3Rs (Reuse, Remanufacture, Recycle).

The contestants undertake, by the mere fact of submitting their proposal, not to disclose it, either themselves or through any of the team members, before the jury’s decision, in order to guarantee anonymity and preserve the objectivity of the contest. This means that they will not be able to carry out any type of communication or publicity related to their proposals, including:

• Publications on social media, blogs or personal or professional websites.
• Appearances in the media.
• Inclusion in portfolios or public presentations of their work.

Contestants may not take part in communication regarding the contest with members of the jury.

Failure to comply with these commitments will result in the immediate disqualification of the proposal.

For future publications related to the work or the finalist proposals, the teams must coordinate with the communication team of the Mugak/ Biennial to disseminate the results based on a calendar and aesthetic criteria determined by the organisers.

The authors of the selected proposals temporarily cede the reproduction and exhibition rights to the Mugak/ Biennial organisers for use in the media, exhibitions, publications and other promotional activities, always mentioning the authorship.

The intellectual property of the projects presented will correspond to their authors.

The Department of Housing and Urban Agenda, as well as the Habic Cluster and Indart3d, may disseminate all or part of the works submitted to the competition through exhibitions and publications, citing their origin and authorship, except in those cases in which the contestants have expressly requested to remain anonymous in case they do not win a prize.

Likewise, all the works submitted may be published on paper, digitally and also on the Internet under the same conditions established for the exhibition.

Proposals must be submitted using the form available on this site by 20:00 on 18 September 2026.

The documentation to be submitted consists of:

• Vertical A1 panel with graphic information about the proposal (maximum 20MB).
• Descriptive information about the proposal, according to this template.
• Team information entered via web form.

The documents must maintain the anonymity of the teams and must not show any information that could link them to their authorship. The files will be uploaded according to the following nomenclature:

• LEMA_MEMORIA.pdf
• LEMA_A1.pdf

The panel must contain the graphic and visual information that the team considers necessary to adequately explain the proposal. It is essential that the slogan appears in the upper right-hand corner, for the correct identification of the panel once it has been printed or projected. A resolution of 300 dpi is recommended.

The descriptive document must include the details of the proposal and technical information, including the budget.

The rules will be available on the Mugak/ Biennial website.

Any questions or queries that may arise for contestants during the course of the call for proposals must be sent via email to: info@bienalmugak.eus

Both the questions raised and the answers to them will be published on the website, and will be provided to the monitoring committee.

• I / Participants

• Team participation: Do all team members have to meet the requirements outlined in point 4 of the competition rules? Can some members meet all the requirements while others do not?

Only individuals designated as “team director” are required to meet these conditions. This designation should be confirmed when completing the online registration form, where details about the team director and other team members must be provided.

• Can non-Spanish nationals enter the ephemeral architecture design competition? Is a foreign qualification acceptable? If I’m a non-Spanish architect (for example, from Latin America), how will compliance with the requirements be verified? Do these requirements need to be met before submitting the proposal, or is there flexibility to complete them afterward?

This is an international competition, open to participants from any country, either individually or as part of a team. Documentation and certifications related to the Architecture Degree of the team leader will be requested to the winners.

It is essential to have these qualifications in place before formalising the contract. This contract signing will take place before 31 December 2026.

• II / Scope
  • What is covered by the €10,000 first-prize fee? If structural or building-services calculations are required, must they be commissioned within this €10,000 fee?

The €10,000 fee covers the following scope of work, as defined in point 7 of the competition regulations:

1. Draft the technical execution project for the installation, including site plans, elevations and sections, as well as the graphic information and assembly details required to implement the proposal, together with a technical justification of the regulations applicable to the installation.

Should the winning team need to subcontract structural calculations, building-services calculations or other technical tasks to a third party, it may do so, but the associated costs must be covered within this fee.

Regarding the coordination and supervision tasks, Clause 7 of the competition rules also establishes the following scope:

III. Supervise the execution of the installation, including design, transport management, assembly and dismantling, health and safety, municipal permits and any other actions required for the proper execution of the work. For the tasks related to material execution management and Health and Safety coordination, the winning teams will be supported by a local master builder or technical architecture professional, appointed for each city through a competition organised by the Professional Associations of Technical Architects of Biscay, Gipuzkoa and Álava.

The appointed site manager or construction engineer will be responsible for coordinating the works, trades, contractors and auxiliary resources involved in the implementation, always in coordination with the organising body and the winning team.

• III / Budget
  • What is covered by the €50,000 project budget? Does it cover the materials required to build the installation, or also the technical documentation?

The €50,000 budget is intended to cover all costs associated with the implementation of the installation, as specified in Clause 5 of the competition rules:

• Production of the materials and components required for the temporary architectural installation
• Assembly and dismantling works
• Necessary auxiliary equipment and resources
• Transport and logistics
• Production of graphic and informational elements

Nevertheless, should the specific nature of the installation require any particular engineering work or specialised technical advice, the corresponding cost may be included within the established budget of €50,000 plus VAT. In such cases, this must be clearly stated and duly justified in Section “4 / Technical and Economic Feasibility” and Section “6 / Budget” of the submission document.