This special screening of To Build Law, followed by a Q&A with Giovanna Borasi and Tiago Mota Saraiva, will mark the closing of the 2025 International Forum on Urbanism taking place at the Portugal Pavilion in Lisbon, designed by Álvaro Siza. Held from 1 to 4 July, IFoU2025 is organized by the Lisbon School of Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa, under the theme Future Living and will explore emerging solutions for affordable housing and spatial justice.

To Build Law follows the work of bplus.xyz (b+) based in Berlin, and station.plus (s+), the chair for architecture and storytelling at ETH Zurich, as they establish the policy lab HouseEurope! to propose industry reforms and shift cultural norms. The film closely observes the various phases of conceptualization and development of a European Citizens’ Initiative meant to incentivize renovation over demolition and new construction. Through this bottom-up legal tool, architecture becomes an open process of establishing partners, drafting legislation, filming stories, strategizing communications, coordinating campaigns, collecting votes, and building a movement, that aims to change the conditions of the architectural discipline in Europe.

The film is part of the three-part film and exhibition series Groundwork, conceived by Francesco Garutti and Irene Chin, directed by Joshua Frank, and produced by the CCA, to explore the conceptual development and field research of contemporary architects cultivating alternative modes of engagement with new project sites.

Participation in the screening of To Build Law, as well as the preceding and final conference session from 5:30pm to 7pm by Jan Gehl and Richard Sennett, is free and open to the public. To attend all other forum events, please register and get your tickets here.