Barcelona’s Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation developments opened their doors to the public for ‘Model. Barcelona Architectures Festival’. Around two hundred people took part in the guided tours led by the architects, who answered the public’s questions. It is the first time that this kind of visit to the IMHAB developments has taken place.
The first ‘Model. Barcelona Architectures Festival’ held between 5 and 15 May, co-organised by Barcelona City Council and the Association of Architects of Catalonia. Over the ten days more than 100 activities for all audiences were carried out in a festival that aims to rethink the construction of the city to deal with the social, political and climate challenges of the 21st century. ‘Model’ is the first of the architectural festivals to be held until 2026, coinciding with Barcelona’s designation as 2026 World Capital of Architecture by UIA-UNESCO.
Increasing public housing stock
The four routes organised by IMHAB included several housing developments in Glòries, 22@, the Can Batlló complex and La Marina del Prat Vermell and was a sample of the different strategies IMHAB has used to expand the public housing stock and meet citizens’ needs guaranteeing their right to decent housing.
The first major strategy to increase public housing stock is the construction of new housing, mainly for accessible or social rentals. As they are rented, these properties will always be part of the stock. One example of this strategy is found at Carrer Ulldecona, 2, in La Marina del Prat Vermell, with 72 properties exclusively for social rentals and designed by Coll-Leclerc Arquitectes and Miás Arquitectes. Coll-Leclerc is also responsible for the development at Carrer Tànger 40, in Glòries, which combines 47 social rent properties with 20 temporary emergency accommodation units.
The City Council also wants to make a commitment to housing that meets the needs of specific collectives. In this regard, a great deal of effort is being made to build public housing for the elderly and, coinciding with Model, the development at Carrer Ciutat de Granada 145-147-149 opened its doors with 105 properties for the elderly designed by Peris+Toral Arquitectes and Bonell i Gil Arquitectes.
Many of these developments are not allocated to one single collective, rather they combine housing for social and accessible rentals, for specific collectives, emergency housing or under a surface right. One example open to visitors was Illa Glòries which, with 238 properties, is the largest development undertaken by a City Council in Spain. Visitors could see the foundations and find out about the project from Marta Benedito, an architect at Cierto Estudio.
Cooperative housing projects had a special appearance on the routes. Two of the projects are found within the scope of Can Batlló: La Borda, with 28 properties under a concession for use on municipal land and winner of the Mies Van de Rohe Architecture Award, and Sotrac, a project that will include 38 properties. These two projects have been built by Lacol Arquitectura Cooperativa, which has also built La Balma, a development of 20 cooperative properties under a concession for use on municipal land. Finally, visitors could visit La Chalmeta, 32 properties under a concession for use of the cooperative Llar Jove, a work of Vivas Arquitectos and Pau Vidal.
On the Glòries route, the project for the new APROP building was explained. This is currently under construction and will have 24 public properties to cover housing emergencies. The APROP buildings are provisional proximity accommodations built from old shipping containers. This allows for fast, economic and sustainable construction to cover housing emergencies.
These are some of the developments visitors have been able to see during the Model. Barcelona Architectures Festival. You can view all of them here: