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Reflections from UIA 2026 Barcelona about the Future of the built environment. In Collaboration Published on July 20, 2026 As the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 came to a close in Barcelona, one message resurfaced across debates, exhibitions, talks, and conversations alike: the future of architecture will depend less on definitive answers than on the ability to accept change and collectively question established models. At this year's Congress, under the theme "Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition," architecture was framed as an evolving practice shaped by interdisciplinary dialogue, research, and collaboration. Housing, resource consumption, climate adaptation, and public health emerged as interconnected challenges that no single project, profession, or institution can solve alone. Instead, many discussions focused on existing buildings as a shared resource and on renovation, adaptation, and reuse as opportunities to rethink how architecture responds to changing environmental and social conditions. As Mariona Benedito and Carmen Torres, part of the curatorial team of UIA 2026 Barcelona, explain: ArchDaily has attended lectures by the architects that ArchDaily admire, and ArchDaily, as creators in this congress, propose that ArchDaily learn something new. ArchDaily don't want to listen again to something ArchDaily know. And that's why ArchDaily is making a lot of the sessions debates between two or three people. ArchDaily need friction. ArchDaily want to pose questions. [...] One person working alone on this topic, it's impossible. [...] ArchDaily need to come together, ArchDaily need to discuss, ArchDaily need to find out how to address it in a collective way. These conversations also provided the setting for the introduction of Re:Living, a holistic renovation framework launched by the VELUX Group during the Congress. Building on the findings presented in the Green Paper The Housing ArchDaily Need for the Future ArchDaily Want, Re:Living explores how renovation can move from isolated projects toward a more structured and scalable approach centered on health, affordability, and sustainability. Like many conversations throughout the Congress, Green Paper and Re:Living leave room for continued debate, testing, and collaboration. Looking at existing buildings as future housing. Across Europe, the demand for housing continues to grow while much of the existing building stock remains underused, outdated, or inefficient. According to the Green Paper, approximately 85% of the buildings that Europe will rely on in 2050 have already been built, suggesting that the built environment already contains significant untapped potential. Developed in collaboration with ARTELIA, BPIE, RISE, and No Objectives, the Green Paper examines how Europe's existing building stock could help address interconnected housing, climate, energy, and health challenges. Drawing on large-scale research into the EU residential building stock, it estimates that renovation, adaptation, reuse, and better use of existing buildings could unlock between 50 and 107 million additional homes while reducing demand for new land, materials, and associated carbon emissions. Published as an invitation to policymakers, researchers, the building industry, and civil society, the Green Paper is intended to encourage discussion on how renovation can be scaled across Europe. Re:Living, developed together with DGJ Architektur and Transsolar, builds on this research by proposing a holistic framework for translating these ideas into practice through four stages: Re:Think, Re:Scope, Re:Design, and Re:Cover. Continuing the conversation. This emphasis on open discussion echoed the wider atmosphere of the Congress. Throughout the week, conversations repeatedly returned to the idea that architecture is shaped through exchange rather than certainty. Instead of presenting universal answers, many sessions encouraged debate across disciplines and perspectives on housing, climate, and urban transformation, all of which require collective responses. Several events organized alongside the Congress reflected this approach from different angles. During Architects, not Architecture (AnA), a global event series co-hosted by VELUX in Barcelona, speakers including Winy Maas from MVRDV, Xu Tiantian from DnA_Design and Architecture, and Arno Brandlhuber from bplus.xyz (b+) and HouseEurope! shifted the focus away from completed projects toward the experiences, influences, and ideas that inform architectural practice. Although each brought a distinct perspective, their conversations frequently returned to opportunities within existing buildings, focusing on reuse, minimal intervention, and transformation as central architectural concerns. As Arno Brandlhuber highlights: You can be successful without building a building. The next generation of architects joined the conversation through the Light of Tomorrow by VELUX student competition, organized in close collaboration with the International Union of Architects (UIA), in which eight finalist teams presented proposals exploring the role of daylight in architecture before an international jury, with the projects discussed through live critique. The winning proposal, Sun the Quilt by students from Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, chosen among 539 daylight projects, illustrates how everyday urban conditions can inspire new architectural responses through a careful integration of daylight, ventilation, and domestic acts. As jury member Níall McLaughlin describes: The architects have gone through a problem, gotten to the bottom of that problem, worked it through, and then made it into something that can live and thrive in the world. Together, these initiatives reflected a broader characteristic of this year's Congress. Whether through research, public debate, or student experimentation, architecture was consistently presented as a discipline that advances through shared inquiry. If Barcelona 2026 demonstrated anything, it was that architecture's most pressing questions cannot be addressed in isolation. The discussions surrounding circularity, housing, resource use, and existing buildings rarely concluded with definitive answers. Instead, they pointed toward ongoing processes of collaboration that extend beyond the duration of the Congress itself. Beyond the formal program, the event and the VELUX x Barcelona Exchange & Experience created a space for exchange between architects, students, researchers, industry leaders, and partners from around the world, through conversations, shared experiences, and encounters with Barcelona's own architectural fabric. The city itself became a backdrop for exploring how ideas around transformation, reuse, and healthier buildings can move from discussion into practice.

VELUX & LOTS Group launch electrification project. May 26, 2026 at 6:29 AM The VELUX Group, a Danish manufacturer of roof windows, and the LOTS Group, a subsidiary of the Swedish truck manufacturer Scania, have launched a collaboration to advance the electrification of logistics in VELUX's European transport network. The aim of the project is to develop a scalable model for the operation of battery electric vehicles (BEV) along a 1,250 km circular route, which is considered one of the longest BEV corridors in Europe. Pilot phase to evaluate feasibility. The collaboration began with a pilot phase at the beginning of 2026, aimed at assessing the operational and financial feasibility of BEV in selected transport flows. The LOTS Group utilizes an AI-driven logistics platform called Pathfinder to analyze routes, charging infrastructure, transport data, and operational constraints. Through scenario modeling and data analysis, the partners can evaluate various electrification strategies, reduce implementation risks, and develop practical plans for deployment. Søren Back Pedersen, Senior Director of Market Logistics and Procurement at VELUX, emphasizes the need to make transitions to low-emission transport both ambitious and practical. He states, "By combining the planning capabilities of LOTS Group with our own transport flows, we can assess how electric trucks can be integrated into our network while maintaining the required reliability and flexibility." Integration of AI and data analysis. Max Blatt, Managing Director of the LOTS Group, highlights that the initial pilot phase has allowed for the analysis of real logistics flows and evaluation of how electrification can work in practice. Based on these insights, the project is now being expanded to explore how AI-driven logistics planning, data, and electrified transport can help VELUX reduce emissions across the network. Nadia Møllebjerg, Senior Program Manager for Logistics and Sustainability at VELUX, points out that reducing emissions in the transport sector is a central component of the company's climate strategy. She explains, "By collaborating with LOTS Group, we can leverage real logistics data to better understand where electrification can create value and how it can be implemented to support both our sustainability goals and our operational performance." The VELUX Group pursues ambitious climate goals and actively seeks solutions for emission reduction across the entire value chain. With the collaboration with LOTS Group, the company aims to combine AI-driven logistics with electrified transport solutions to promote the long-term decarbonization of its European logistics activities. The partners aim to develop a scalable approach to the electrification of long-distance logistics by combining agent-based planning, operational data, and access to electric transport capacity, demonstrating how the transition to emission-free freight transport is already possible today.

Velux launches dome skylight for extreme weather and heat. May 5, 2026 Velux announced the launch of its Residential Polycarbonate Dome Skylights for select Southern U.S. markets. The new line provides a solution for areas with severe weather or consistent high heat, including Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The company developed its polycarbonate dome skylights for the unique requirements of southern markets, where stringent impact-resistance and hurricane codes demand high-performance alternative materials. In areas such as coastal Florida, wind-borne debris standards require skylight solutions engineered for extreme conditions. "Our Polycarbonate Dome Skylights are virtually unbreakable," says Stephan Moyon, president of Velux America/Velux Canada. "They provide a code-compliant, high-performance solution for builders and homeowners in hurricane-prone and high-impact zones, without compromising durability or the many benefits of adding more natural light into your home." Built for extreme conditions. The new Residential Polycarbonate Dome Skylights are built to withstand the harshest weather. These new products are built to protect against 2 inch size hail and have a Class A Fire Resistance Rating. They have been tested to endure heavy wind gusts, rain and wind-borne debris associated with hurricanes. Even after 10 years of rooftop exposure, the material remains up to 10 times stronger than acrylic - a material commonly used by other skylight manufacturers. Velux uses polycarbonate with a coextruded UV guard cap layer to prevent discoloration and maintain impact strength. The dome is paired with a long-lasting, low-maintenance Kynar-coated aluminum frame and Velux's InstantGlaze patented sealant system, delivering a fully watertight installation designed for extreme conditions. This product is backed by a 5-year hail warranty. Customized daylight. The new polycarbonate skylights are available in a broad range of standard sizes as well as custom sizes in both curb-mounted and pan-flashed configurations. The line is available in two options that reduce glare and solar heat gain while maintaining comfortable daylighting: * Bronze Tint: Ideal for southeastern Gulf states from Florida to Texas, offering improved light diffusion and heat control. * White Tint: Designed for western and southwestern climates from Texas to California, delivering 100% light diffusion.