Tomorrow.
Building

We curate a cutting-edge global event launched in 2023 in Barcelona, focused on exploring and innovating the future of buildings and urban infrastructures with a sustainability lens.

The challenge

While cities cover only 1% of the Earth’s surface, they consume nearly 75% of the world’s energy. In this equation, constructions and infrastructures play a crucial role in measuring the environmental impact of urban areas. For example, buildings account for approximately 40% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. To move towards a truly sustainable world, it is imperative to embrace new models for planning, constructing, renovating, and operating buildings and urban infrastructures, accelerating a shift in the built environment towards a circular and digitalized model that ensures efficiency, resilience, and net-zero cities.

To address these challenges, Fira Barcelona identified the need to give greater importance to this issue within the framework of its annual flagship event on cities—the Smart City Expo World Congress. This led to the creation of a dedicated event in 2023, Tomorrow.Building, fostering a beneficial synergy between both events.

Our approach

Leveraging our extensive experience in curating the Smart City Expo World Congress since 2011 and our cross-cutting knowledge and contact network of urban affairs, Fira Barcelona entrusted Anteverti with the curation of Tomorrow.City, held concurrently with the main congress in November 2023.

Throughout the year, our curatorial team analyzed global trends relevant to the present and future of buildings and urban infrastructures, collaborating with Fira Barcelona to create the narrative and thematic paths of the event. Engaging sessions were designed, spanning both the physical congress venue and the virtual program, involving all stakeholders in urban development and management around seven main topics identified as priorities: Design Tech, Green Districts, Decarbonized Infrastructure, Prop Tech, Urban Strategies & Management, Livable Cities, and Smart Buildings.

The impact

The inaugural Tomorrow.Building brought together influential figures in the field, including Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk, designer Chantal Matar, world-renowned architect Carlo Ratti, FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta discussing the innovative stadium reform, Clara Muzzio, Minister of Public Space and Urban Hygiene of the City of Buenos Aires, and Carlos Moreno, creator of the ’15-Minute City.’

Curating 30 thematically interconnected sessions with the Smart City Expo World Congress program, we contributed to the success of the new event, attracting a record 25,300 attendees from over 140 countries. This laid the foundation for future editions of this event focusing on innovation in construction and infrastructure.