Join us for our upcoming TAG Talk by María Sánchez and Pedro Godoy, Guatemalan architects and co-founders of Estudio Urbano.

In an age when cities around the world have become fragmented, anonymous, and often hostile to human life, Ciudad Cayalá in Guatemala stands as living evidence that another path is possible. Conceived as a contemporary classical city, Cayalá embodies the moral and aesthetic principles that once gave meaning to urban civilization: beauty, harmony, proportion, and community. This talk explores how Cayalá reclaims the essence of citymaking: a place designed not for machines or speculation, but for people, memory, and encounter.

Through its coherent urban fabric, walkable streets, civic architecture, and integration of nature and culture, Cayalá demonstrates that tradition and innovation need not be opposites. Rather, they can unite to serve the timeless human need for belonging. Far from a nostalgic imitation, it offers a model for how the city of the future can draw strength from the wisdom of the past. “Cayalá and the Renaissance of the Human City” invites us to rediscover the city as a collective work of art, a moral landscape where architecture once again uplifts, dignifies, and connects us to one another.

Pedro Godoy and María Sánchez are Guatemalan architects and co-founders of Estudio Urbano, a practice dedicated to classical architecture and urbanism. In close collaboration with Léon Krier, they conceived and designed Ciudad Cayalá in Guatemala City, an internationally acclaimed new town that has become a living model for the renaissance of humane urbanism. Educated at the University of Notre Dame, they have translated timeless architectural principles into a contemporary Latin American context, proving that tradition and innovation can coexist to create cities of beauty, dignity, and community. Through their work, writing, and teaching, they continue to inspire a global movement toward cities that serve the common good. Their projects stand as evidence that the art of citymaking, when guided by moral and aesthetic purpose, can once again shape places where life, culture, and hope flourish.

 For tickets and more information follow this link.

Free for members, £5 plus booking fee for non-members.