Maribel Casas, LUCA Director;
Credit: Steven Miller, Chronicle.lu
On Monday 19 January 2026, the Luxembourg Centre for Architecture (LUCA) hosted a press conference for the official presentation of its 2026 programme, at its headquarters in Luxembourg-Clausen.
The presentation of the programme was given by LUCA Director Maribel Casas and began with her detailing various key achievements for the oranisation in 2025. These included an increase in visitors to exhibitions of 21% compared to the year 2024 - an increase of 8% for events organised by LUCA and 15% for collaborative events. In all, 28% of LUCA’s events in 2025 were undertaken in collaboration with other partners.
Of particular note were The New Housing exhibition, which welcomed more than 700 visitors and more than 400 participants in its framework programme and included workshops which led to the creation of a new cooperative in Luxembourg. The Inheritance exhibition welcomed more than 900 visitors and more than 350 participants for its conference section. The first edition of the Luxembourg Architecture Days saw more than 60 activities offered in 24 different municipalities, and the National Housing Week had 12,000 visits in 2025.
Maribel Casas remarked: “We are extremely happy that, although there were still a lot of activities focused on the city centre, we were still able to reach other regions.”
Maribel Casas then detailed LUCA’s programme for 2026, which includes the closure of the exhibition on Charles Arendt. The exhibition, in honour of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the first architect of the State, was designed and organised in collaboration with the Einstein Committee. LUCA will welcome Isabelle Becker, historian at Bâtiments Publics and the main instigator of the exhibition, as well as historians Robert Philippard and Thomas Lochetto, to talk about the work of Charles Arendt before the exhibition concludes on Friday 30 January.
On Thursday 26 February, LUCA will open the exhibition “Soft Power, The Brussels Way of Making the City”, which has been produced by the Museum of Architecture in Balmes. The exhibition traces Belgium's journey to becoming an internationally renowned hotspot for contemporary architecture and urban planning. The show sheds light on the framework conditions that have given rise to a high-quality building culture in Brussels and encouraged a new generation of architects to participate in its urban development.
Maribel Casas also announced that LUCA will host a press conference on Tuesday 3 March, in the presence of Luxembourg Minister of Culture Eric Thill, during which they will reveal the calendar for the Luxembourg Architecture Prize.
In 2026, LUCA will also collaborate with the Embassy of Italy, as part of the Italian Design Day, and will host a screening of the documentary film Pensée la certitude, in collaboration with the Maison de l'Architecture de Lorraine. Other collaborations currently being finalised include a visit to the Maisontal glassworks site with Design Luxembourg and a new edition of Architects Meet Architects, which will take place in early October.
Maribel Casas said: “We are still preparing a lot of surprises for you this year. I would of course like to finish by thanking the Ministry of Culture, all our partners and sponsors, the Board of Directors and the LUCA team, and of course our audience, because without you this would not be possible.”
The event concluded with a networking cocktail.
Details of LUCA’s programme for the year can be found at https://luca.lu/evenements?page=0.
