On the weekend of October 22 and 23, Barcelona and six other cities in the metropolitan region (Badalona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Sant Joan Despí, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Vilassar de Dalt and Sitges) opened the doors to some of their most characteristic buildings as part of the thirteenth edition of the 48h Open House BCN 2022 festival. In total, visitors had at their disposal an offer of up to 126 buildings, which could be discovered in person through free guided tours, as well as audio-guided tours.
The festival brings the city closer to visitors through architecture and urban planning, and it does so through visits to unique buildings and valuable spaces that include the most outstanding styles and artistic movements. And, in parallel, the festival was also an opportunity to discover new housing formats, alternative to the current housing model.
In this sense, the program included visiting three cohousing buildings, promoted by the Municipal Institute of Housing and Rehabilitation of Barcelona (IMHAB) and the Barcelona City Council. A model that allows a community of people to live in a building without being owners or landlords, for an extended period of up to one hundred years, and at a lower price than the market. Specifically, the buildings in question were those of La Balma (C/ de Espronceda, 135), Cirerers (C/ del Pla dels Cirerers, 2-4), and la Xarxaire (Passeig de Joan de Borbó, 10).
An opportunity that has allowed dozens of people to learn first-hand about a renovating housing model, common in northern European countries, which guarantees access to decent housing, promotes community management and fights against real estate speculation.
The festival program also included a visit to the public buildings at Carrer d’en Robador 25-27, in the Raval, with a total of 13 municipal rental apartments acquired and rehabilitated by the Barcelona City Council. In addition, visitors also had the option of seeing the buildings at Carrer de la Ciutat de Granada, a project of 105 municipal public housing units with services for the elderly, a home for the elderly, and a CAP.
The 48h Open House Barcelona is a non-profit cultural project that works to disseminate the architectural heritage of the city of Barcelona, and this year commemorated the trades, fundamental in creating a building. Recognition to all the disciplines and professionals that make possible collaborative and global architecture, and a way to overthrow barriers between designers and craftsmen.