The Architecture Book Fair is the first transnational virtual book fair dedicated to architecture, a project by dpr-barcelona.

The Architecture Book Fair brings together a selection of new and established publishers pushing the boundaries of architecture and its intersection with politics, technology, economy and social issues. For its first edition, we are lucky to have the most relevant books directly proposed from XX publishers under the topic “Landscapes of Care”. Every book fair will have a critical input that provide an analytical overview of the titles convened.

For its first year, the Architecture Book Fair is curated by Chiara Dorbolò, an architect and researcher working between storytelling, criticism, and design and Future Architecture fellow 2021. She worked in multiple architecture and interior design offices in the Netherlands, and since her graduation in 2017, she is a contributing editor at Failed Architecture. In 2020, she was among the recipients of the Talent Development Grant from the Creative Industries Fund NL. Currently, she teaches online at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and lives in Madrid.

As being virtual, there is no social distancing restriction in the ABF. We have set a variety of ways to interact with publishers at the ABF. Each publisher will have a shelf with access to data sheets with the description of their suggested titles. You will be able to follow links to the publisher’s social networks and e-commerce site. The same applies to the books finally selected by the curator.

Throughout the Fair week, from 5th to 9th of October, there will be live and pre-recorded programs in which visitors can also pose questions and share thoughts with selected speakers. We have been carefully contact and bring them to trigger discussions from their experiences with the main topic of the fair and with the crazy adventure of publishing.

Every book will have a direct link to purchase on the publisher’s e-commerce. From the publisher’s shelf, you will be able to follow the link to the home page of their e-commerce site.

Every publisher will manage independently the payment bridge and shipping procedures of the titles through their respective e-commerce site. As being events between comrades, some publishers may have available a local pick-up option.

The ABF will host a week of events from 5th to 9th of October at 19:00, so you can reach them after work time. We are aware of the reality of “screen-fatigue” that many of us have been experiencing after the burst of online events, our events will be strictly during one hour and be as engaging as possible. If you want to follow up the conversation, we are sure that the books will operate their magic and become spaces of encounter between publishers, authors, speakers, and readers.

All ABF programs are free and open to the public one week after the event. There is a procrastination room where you will be able to listen to playlists carefully curated and shared by friends, comrades, book-smellers, and bookworms like us. There will be a series of drives in the bookshelves of selected editors, critics, curators, and authors. You will be able to spot from first hand the books that inspire their work and how they are occupying their space in personal shelves, their arrangements, classification, and unexpected vicinities.

All programs will be archived and made available the following day to watch at your convenience.

dpr-barcelona is committed to making ABF accessible and navigable for everyone. If you are having difficulty viewing or navigating the content on this website, or notice any content, feature, or functionality that you believe is not fully accessible to people with disabilities, please email our Fair Team at hello@dpr-barcelona.com.

The ABF takes place over five days, from October 5th to 9th with an opening event and discussion with this year curator Chiara Dorbolò on October 5th. After the final day, publishers’ shelves will keep appearing in the ABF site for an extra period of one month. After this, we will prepare the shelves for the next pop-up interaction.

More than overwhelming editorial production, we care for books that make us think, debate, disagree and sometimes cry. We love books, we love the smell of books, we love the spaces of encounter that books create. If you feel somehow like this, there is a space in our shelves for your books.

Qualified applicants:

• Publish, sell, or distribute critical architecture books in all its formats and manifestations.
• Have a plausible dedication to bookmaking and publishing.
• Are committed to political engagement, creativity, and experimentation.