MODEL. BARCELONA ARCHITECTURES FESTIVAL – ONE HUNDRED ACTIVITIES TO HELP RETHINK THE FUTURE OF CITIES
Barcelona City Council and the COAC have released the programme for Model, Barcelona’s brand-new Architecture Festival, which is set to take place from 5 to 15 May, as the first major event celebrating Barcelona’s selection as the World Capital of Architecture for 2026.
“Regrowth” is the theme that has been chosen for this debut event, through which its curators, Eva Franch, Beth Galí and José Luis de Vicente, aim to explore the new perspectives, areas of thought and values that play a part in redirecting the city’s growth. The city will therefore become a laboratory of experimentation and debate about the challenges being faced and opportunities presented in urban environments.
A hundred activities to generate debate
The event will feature a hundred activities promoted by independent entities, including a series of debates held in emblematic spaces around Barcelona, a tribute to Oriol Bohigas, as well as open days, workshops and ephemeral installations.
A list of eminent figures from the fields of architecture, philosophy and anthropology will also be taking part: ROTOR, Carolyn Steel, Rafael Moneo, Carme Pinós, Rose George, Reinier de Graaf, Anna Pacheco, Assemble, MAIO, Elizabeth Duval, Batlle i Roig, La Col, Cooking Sections, FLEXO Arquitectura, Carme Pinós, Barcelona DPR, Camilla van Deurs, Jill Stoner, Ricky Burdett, Maria Rubert, Josep Maria Montaner, Peris+Toral, Ana & Eugeni Bach, Elisenda Solsona, Areti Markopoulou, Christ & Gantenbein, Point Supreme, Juergen Mayer, Office KGDVS, Zuloark, Iñaqui Carnicero and Carlos Ferrater.
Five ephemeral installations
Model’s ephemeral architecture installations will be set up in Plaça de Catalunya, Plaça Reial, Passeig de Lluís Companys, Ronda de Sant Antoni and Plaça d’Idrissa Diallo, serving as venues for a variety of meetings, debates, performances and other activities.
Developed by architecture firms connected to the city, the five structures have been conceived as a means of generating discussion about the cities of today, exploring their past and speculating on their future. The installations may also be integrated into the lives of local residents as they go about their daily activities while the festival is on.
The full programme can be found on the Festival website.
COAC RENOVATES SIX OF ITS BRANCH OFFICES AS PART OF THE HERITAGE PLAN
All the renovation work carried out as part of the Heritage Plan to transform six of the COAC’s eleven regional office buildings around Catalonia is expected to be completed during the course of 2022.
A budget of €3,877,500 has been allocated to adapt the spaces, update the facilities, improve building accessibility and health and renovate the facades and roofs at its sites in Girona, Tarragona, Lleida, La Seu d’Urgell, Vic and Barcelona, in accordance with the requirements identified in a previous technical report.
Following a ten year period of forced inactivity due to the economic crisis, the Heritage Plan, approved by the General Assembly in May 2018, has enabled the COAC to invest resources in the renovation and renewal of its buildings, an essential action both in terms of their upkeep and fulfilling a duty of care with regard to heritage preservation.
Promoting a culture of renovation
Thus, in a few key years of promoting urban renewal and following the activation of the NextGenerationEU funds, the COAC aims to promote its building rehabilitation programme as a pedagogical exercise for society, in order to adapt buildings and workspaces to the needs of the twenty-first century and to meet the challenges of sustainable architecture and improve the well-being and health of citizens.
Details of the actions implemented at the different office sites can be found here:
· TARRAGONA
· GIRONA
· LLEIDA
· LA SEU D'URGELL
· VIC
· BARCELONA
THE LACOL COOPERATIVE, WINNERS OF THE 2022 EUMIES AWARD FOR EMERGING ARCHITECTURE
The European Commission and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation have announced the winners of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award for 2022. The Lacol architects’ cooperative has been named as the winner in the Emerging Architecture category for its La Borda cooperative housing building in Barcelona.
The project selected as the Architecture Prize winner of the 2022 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award itself was Town House - Kingston University in London, developed by the Irish studio Grafton Architects, founded by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara.
La Borda – cooperative housing
The La Borda cooperative housing project is a self-organised development providing access to decent, non-speculative housing that focuses on the importance of its use through a collective management structure. The project was originally conceived in 2012, as part of the process involved in the regeneration of the Can Batlló industrial complex and the residential and cooperative fabric of the Sants district.
The building is constructed on a plot of land on Carrer Constitució provided by the City Council. The project consists of 28 housing units (40, 60 and 75 m2) and community spaces arranged around a central courtyard, with the aim of promoting community and neighbourhood life.
The Award’s Jury was keen to highlight, “the importance of architecture that delves into the possibility of changing mindsets and policies and the relevance of inclusiveness.”
The awards ceremony will take place on 12 May, as part of EUmies Awards Day. The full programme can be found on the Mies van der Rohe Foundation website.
Lacol
Made up of 14 members, Lacol is an architects’ cooperative which was set up in the Sants district of Barcelona in 2009.The La Borda project has already been recognised with an award at the 3rd Barcelona Architecture Exhibition, as well as being selected as the winner of the City of Barcelona Architecture and Urbanism Prize in 2019. The studio, together with Equal Saree, was also selected for an AJAC XII Award for their “La Model opens up to the city” participatory process, in addition to which Lacol’s female partners were awarded the 2021 Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture as part of the W Awards.
Further information on Lacol’s work can be found on the arquitecturacatalana.cat website.
THE CATALAN MINISTRY OF EDUCATION PUBLISHES A GUIDE FOR SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION PROJECTS
The new document, entitled Nous aprenentatges, nous espais (New learning, new spaces), puts the educational project being implemented at a school or college at the heart of any corresponding construction or transformation project and stipulates the need for a collaborative process involving both the educational community and architects. The process even includes a meeting a year after the completion of the project in order to assess the degree to which the building meets the needs of the relevant pedagogical project.
This non-regulatory guide corresponds to the Royal Decree 132/2010, which sets out the minimum requirements with which compulsory education spaces must comply, but it permits those spaces which are not governed by the regulation to be left open and linked to the transit spaces. These spaces, which the guide describes as “likely to be open”, can cover an area of up to 200 m2, depending on the capacity of the centre. This allows for new structures and programmes to be developed in line with the various teaching methodologies.
The concept that all the spaces in the centre have the potential to serve as learning spaces is another noteworthy element. As such, the playgrounds form another part of the architectural project and, in coordination with the educational project and the dialogue with the municipalities, may incorporate educational elements, such as outdoor classrooms, or become natural spaces.
The precedents to this document date back to 2019, when the Ministry of Education’s Directorate General for Public Education Centres and the Directorate General for Research, Innovation and Digital Culture initiated a collaboration with the COAC and the Bofill Foundation with the aim of changing and adapting the document outlining “Criteria for the construction of new state school buildings” to the pedagogical reality.
As part of this collaboration, architects and teachers interested in improving school spaces were invited to the Nous espais, nous aprenentatges (New spaces, new learning) seminar held at the UB Auditorium in March 2019. This seminar marked the beginning of a collaborative process involving professionals from a range of different fields and disciplines including more than 80 architects. All this information has been summarised by architects David Lladó and Mariona Genís and teaching professional Jordi Vivancos in this new document.
The guide is available to download from the Ministry of Education website.