The headquarters of the European Commission hosts until May 31 the exhibition "Architecture without paper", which outlines the work of 15 architectural firms who bet on new technologies as the new medium for its ideas.

"Architecture Without Paper" contains architectural exhibits of an unconventional format, and other experimental designs produced by 15 teams of young Spanish architects, who have abandoned the hitherto dominant medium of paper in favour of new digital design tools, using these to make the most of their creativity.

Thus, the installation exhibition, which can be visited in the Berlaymont building of the European Commission, becomes a reflection of the latest trends in recent Spanish architecture. The selected works are exhibited visually on screens and in animations that combine art, architecture, photography and graphic design.

The Ministry of Housing is organizing this exhibition, that aims to show the laboratory of ideas from which comes the latest Spanish architecture. Included in the cultural agenda of the Spanish Presidency of the EU, the sample and was part of the contents of the flag of Spain in the 11th Mostra Internazionale di Architettura La Biennale di Venezia.

This is not the first sample of support of the Presidency to the Spanish novel architecture: in February, the Ministry of Housing led to the Casa de Asturias in Brussels the exhibition Young Architects from Spain (Jóvenes Arquitectos de España - JAE), with the aim of discovering the generation of Spanish architects under 40.

Moreover, the EU boosts the archtecture with important initiatives such as the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award, one of the most important and prestigious prizes for international architecture and is awarded biennially to built works completed within the previous two years.  It is awarded by the European Commission and Fundació Mies van der Rohe, and the last winner has been Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Oslo, Norway by Snøhetta.

Spain, together with the UK, has been the EU country that has won this award the most: the Olympic Pavilion of Badalona, by Esteve Bonnell and Francesc Rius in 1992, the Kursaal in San Sebastián in 2001, by Rafael Moneo, and the MUSAC of Leon in 2007, by Emilio Tuñón and Luis Moreno Mansilla. 

Architecture studios selected

• Eduardo Pesquera y Jesús Ulargui
• Álvaro Soto y Javier Maroto
• Nestor Montenegro, Ignacio Borrego y Lina Toro
• Rubén Picado y María José de Blas
• Asier Santas y Luis Suárez
• Alberto Veiga y Fabrizio Barozzi
• Jaime Coll y Judith Leclerc
• Ignacio Laguillo y Harold Schönegger
• Antonio Jiménez Torrecillas
• Tomás García y Javier Castellano
• María Langarita y Víctor Navarro
• Clara Murado y Juan Elvira
• Ana Miret, María Hermoso, Miguel Paredes y Ruth Vega
• David Díez, Carolina Gambín, Antoine Hertenberger y Luis Úrculo
• David Tapias y Nuria Salvadó