Barcelona 2026 is Penn State's six-week summer program in Barcelona, Spain, in partnership with the Barcelona Architecture Center (BAC). Our landscape architecture undergrads study the city in its Catalonian and Mediterranean contexts. We explore its vibrant places—its cityscapes and plazas, parks and green infrastructure, and many-layered history. We also travel to Madrid, Girona, Olot and Costa Brava. And we design!

This year we focused on sustainable and convivial urban waterfront design as a response to mass tourism and regional coastal habitat loss. Our major project explored the radical transformation of the Barcelona Pier—removing the misfit World Trade Center and cruise ship docks in favor of a fully accessible waterfront and newly-productive habitats, all within the rubric of a climate change-responsive and authentic Mediterranean urbanism. Our students rose to the occasion!

Many thanks to our BAC partners and associates for their abiding commitment to our students' learning and well-being. They so generously shared with us their beloved Catalonia, and for that we will always be grateful. A special call-out to my amazing colleagues and friends, David Espuña and Pilar Llop. Finally, we recognize and appreciate the behind-the-scenes support of Penn State Global staff. Thanks, one and all.