After successful completion of the course, students are able to respond existing structures in the Mediterranean urban context with climate and socially compatible architectural solutions reusing preexisting material and infrastructure. They will be able to develop architectural concepts and projects based on the analysis of urban environments and the history of a place.
WATER TRAILS BARCELONA Supervision by Visiting Professor Carles Enrich from Barcelona
The development of cities in the 20th century has led us to a totally unsustainable model of consumption of energy resources. Mobility, but also construction, have become an industry that has collapsed a system that has forgotten the economy of necessity.
In view of the indisputable influence of humans on nature and the landscape, leading to an ecological crisis, we are in search of climate-resilient solutions to recover certain urban habitats. Former historic infrastructures and systems can be reused as contemporary solutions. How can we as architects contribute to a responsible approach to the already existing city?
RE-HABITAT
Barcelona is a city defined by its geographical boundaries. The city‘s topography forms a relief that explains the downward course of the water. From the Collserola mountains to the coast, the city has an altitude difference of 500 m and is bordered at its ends by the Besós and Llobregat rivers and their deltas.
Until well into the 19th century, Barcelona was mainly configured by what now is called ‘historical center’ (Barcino) and several adjacent towns connected by canals, streams and paths. The torrents and streams allowed the exploitation of water as an element of land production, turning the entire territory into an agricultural and industrial area where people lived in small self-sufficient groups combining living and working in the same place.
Since the urban expansion of Eixample in 1855 and, especially due to the mid-20th demographic growth, this area has lost its productive condition and has become an urbanized territory that formed the basis to host one of the densest urban settlements in Europe with an economical model that separates living and working.
RECOVERING ECOSYSTEMS
The aim of this course is to undertake a critical review of this urban model and propose a return to
self-sufficient mixed systems where living and production take place in an ecosystem that recovers the environmental values of a territory defined by water to deal with climate change.
We will work on the reuse of preexisting structures seeking for interventions that can be developed over time to allow for changes during their lifetime and introduce an idea of a inhabitable productive infrastructure among the urban fabric. We will work with minimum resources and bioclimatic solutions in order to reduce our ecological footprint. Water as a natural resource for a long-term architecture.
Kick-Off - Tue 7.3.23 - 10:00-15:00 - HS15
Regular meetings -Tue 10:00-15:00 - PR GBL
Excursion to Barcelona - 20.3.-24.3.23
Public lecture - Tue 18.04.23 18:00-20:00 HS7
Mid Term - Tue 9.5.2023 with Prof. Tina Gregorič
Final Jury - Tue 27.06.23 with Prof. Tina Gregorič
