Two Days of Immersive Experience Combining Architecture, Heritage, and Gastronomy in an Intimate Format

Festival of Architecture in Spanish (FAE) 2025 will be held on September 4 and 5 in Mexico City. The Festival is the gathering that celebrates contemporary design through dialogue, exploration, and shared experiences. Over two days, leading voices in global architecture gather in some of Mexico’s most iconic modern landmarks, not just to lecture, but to walk through, inhabit, and reflect on these spaces alongside attendees.

© Courtesy of IESARQ.

Designed as an intimate gathering, the Festival offers rare access to international guests through direct conversations, guided tours of Modern Movement landmarks, and informal moments where dialogue moves beyond the professional into the personal. It’s not just about talking about architecture, it’s about inhabiting it, moving through it together, and sharing it as a lived experience. Framing the program is an exclusive multi-course meal by chef Miguel Sánchez Navarro, founder of CARDO, paired with signature cocktails and curated to spark genuine exchange between guests, architects, and festival participants.

© Courtesy of IESARQ.

The first day unfolds in the iconic Los Manantiales, a masterpiece by Félix Candela set among the canals of Xochimilco. This sweeping concrete shell, one of the architect’s most celebrated works, stands as a testament to 20th-century structural experimentation and sculptural beauty. On the second day moves to the Bacardí Plant in the State of Mexico, an extraordinary site that brings together two Modern Movement icons: the vast bottling hall by Félix Candela and the office building designed by Mies van der Rohe. Here, industrial architecture becomes a manifesto of design ambition.

Featured Guests

Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA, Japan)

Pritzker Prize laureate (2010), co-founder of SANAA, and author of celebrated works such as the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art and the Teshima Art Museum.

Mauricio Rocha (Taller Mauricio Rocha, Mexico)

Winner of the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize 2023, with works including the expansion of the Anahuacalli Museum and the San Pablo Academic and Cultural Center.

Jimenez Lai (Bureau Spectacular, USA)

Architect and artist known for experimental installations and a narrative-driven approach to the spaces we inhabit.

Cristina Díaz Moreno y Efrén García Grinda (Amid.cero9, Spain)

Founders of the influential Madrid-based studio and professors at institutions including Harvard, Princeton, and the Universität für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna.