Last Wednesday, June 8, more than one hundred alumni University alumni gathered at the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. In this meeting, organised by the board Alumni of Bilbao and the School of Architecture project , the expansion of the Museum was presented by its director, Miguel Zugaza, and the architect and professor of the University, Luis María Uriarte.

Zugaza recounted the history of the art gallery from its origins to the current museum context. He also showed how the growth of the art collection and activity has been the main reason for the Museum to set up project in order to create more space. Before concluding his speech, he shared with those present some of the architectural proposals that were presented in the competition for the extension. 

For his part, Uriarte, the architect of the winning project together with the Foster studio, unveiled the details of his proposal. He highlighted the team's commitment to creating a sustainable project , as well as their ingenuity in being able to design the new building without affecting existing architecture. Luis María also emphasised the search for a discreet building that would pay homage to the existing building and dialogue with its surroundings. In this sense, he showed the planned redevelopment work .
 

board Bilbao Alumni

This event turned out to be the first event promoted by the current board of alumni of Bilbao, made up of: 

• María Zalbidea González [COM'01] - Chairperson
• Eduardo Moreno Pérez [COM'13]. 
• Elena Lázaro [ARQ'98]. 
• Joaquín Mateo [BIO'10]. 
• Ángela Arriola [FAR'95]. 
• Bosco Martínez de Bedoya [DER'86-TEO'88]. 

María Zalbidea wanted to emphasise that "this event was created in response to the interest of the alumni in Bilbao in getting together after the pandemic. This is the first educational activity and networking event of the many that we want to promote at board". At the end of the lecture, the attendees shared a networking space in the Fine Arts Museum.