I BIAU

The celebration of the 1st Latin American Biennial of Architecture and Civil Engineering is a cultural event to be welcomed.

For the first time, a forum of these characteristics welcomes and confronts the experiences that the different professionals of Architecture and Civil Engineering develop on both sides of the Atlantic. The 1st Ibero-American Biennial offers a unique opportunity to promote reciprocal knowledge, a necessity that justifies centuries of coexistence and fruitful exchange of artistic and creative experiences.

The pioneering nature of this Biennial is combined with its participatory vocation: the creation of a shared scenario conducive to dialogue and the exchange of common experiences. Seminars, courses, workshops and lecture series are complemented by an exhibition showing the most representative architectural and civil engineering works of Ibero-America.

The fruit of different aesthetic sensibilities, these works respond to such challenges with different approaches. It is not in vain that these two disciplines, Architecture and Civil Engineering, share the same vocation of service to the citizen and contribution to the improvement of quality of life and social progress. The prominent participation of the university world in this Biennial reinforces the commitment to the future of this forum. The University, the embryo of future architects and engineers, thus reinforces its role as a bridge between knowledge and practice. Their presence is also a strong endorsement of the leading role that reflection, research and discussion will play in this meeting.

I therefore welcome the holding of this 1st Biennial in the conviction that the opening of new paths of communication and dialogue between peoples is the best guarantee of progress and modernity.