The European Prize for Urban Public Space participated in the 13th edition of the MEXTRÓPOLI Festival, held from 17 to 20 September in Mexico City.

MEXTRÓPOLI is one of Latin America’s leading international gatherings dedicated to architecture, urban planning and urban culture. Over four days, venues across the city hosted lectures, exhibitions, panel discussions, installations and urban walks, bringing together architects, students, institutions and citizens to reflect on architecture and urban transformations.

The Prize was represented by the POLIS exhibition and by the participation of Joan Roig, co-founder of Batlleiroig and author of the 2024 Prize finalist project, Boca de la Mina Promenade.

MEXTRÓPOLI opened on 17 September at the emblematic Colegio de San Ildefonso. The following day, the Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris hosted a programme of keynote lectures by leading international figures in architecture, including Pritzker Prize laureate Riken Yamamoto, Beatriz Colomina, Mark Wigley and Lina Ghotmeh, alongside Joan Roig.

On 19 September, the exhibition POLIS: European Prize for Urban Public Space opened at the Centro Cultural de España. The exhibition, on view until 15 November, brings together a selection of 32 projects from the Prize archive, organised around eight themes: memory, recycling, mobility, markets, renaturalisation, participation, housing and care. The opening event was attended by Miquel Adrià, director of MEXTRÓPOLI, and Masha Zrncic, coordinator of the Prize.

The programme continued with the panel discussion “Urban Movements: Infrastructure, Public Space and Urban Legacy”, featuring Joan Roig alongside Carlos Martínez, from the Fondo Mixto de la Secretaría de Turismo de Ciudad de México, and Carina Arvizu, director of Cities at WRI Mexico. Moderated by Miquel Adrià, the discussion focused on some of the main urban challenges facing cities today, including climate change adaptation, water management, mobility and the transformation of urban infrastructure.

In addition, Joan Roig gave a lecture at the Faculty of Architecture of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), one of the country’s leading universities. Addressed to students of architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture, the lecture presented some of his main projects and his approach to interventions in architecture and landscape, and concluded with a lively discussion with the students.

With the support of Institut Ramon Llull