The Jai Alai seats from Barcelona’s Teatre Principal, now on display at Arquitectura | Oficis

As part of Barcelona World Capital of Architecture 2026, the ÚNICO gallery presents Arquitectura | Oficis, an exhibition that explores architecture through the processes that make it possible. Bringing together eight Catalan architecture practices and craftspeople from a range of disciplines, the exhibition highlights the relationship between design, material and craft, celebrating the shared knowledge behind every construction decision.

Opened on 8 July, the exhibition features works by GCA Architects, Mesura, RCR Arquitectes, Batlleiroig, AIA, Lagranja Design, Bofill Taller de Arquitectura and b720. Each piece stems from a real architectural project and explores how collaboration with ceramicists, cabinet makers, metalworkers, textile artisans and other specialists transforms initial ideas and opens up new possibilities for architecture.

Batlleiroig takes part alongside conservator-restorer Daniel Moré with Jai Alai Seating Reborn, an intervention developed as part of the rehabilitation of Barcelona’s Teatre Principal. The piece restores seats from the former Jai Alai court, which remained hidden inside the building for many years, demonstrating how conservation can preserve material memory while restoring functionality.

As Annabel Barba, Principal Project Director at Batlleiroig, explains: “The piece encapsulates an idea that runs throughout the Teatre Principal project: intervening without being seen, intervening without erasing history.” This approach has guided both the rehabilitation of the building and the work carried out with Daniel Moré, allowing every scratch, mark of wear and trace of use to remain part of the story the seats continue to tell.

The exhibition will be on view at the ÚNICO gallery until the end of the year.