Antonio Sanmartín
ON,OVER,UNDER "Barceloneta"
This studio pondered architecture as/if transcription: transcription of ways of life, transcription of cultural specificities and universals, transcription of the already known and the unknown, the visible and the invisible. It focused on sites in the Barceloneta neighborhood of Barcelona, Spain. Not exactly Barcelona, Barceloneta is a privileged yet dense seafront location under intense pressure from tourism. This rather obsolete neighborhood was built in 1800 when the city of Barcelona lost its local administrative and political power. A new “ciudadela” at the northeast edge of Barcelona was built to “protect” the city, meaning to monitor and subvert it. As a result, a large portion of the medieval city was demolished and residents were relocated closer to the shore. Designed by military civil engineer Juan Martín Cermeño, the neighborhood is based on an 8.40 by 8.40-meter grid. A very successful consequence of the 1992 Olympics was the transformation of the existing slums, unoccupied beaches, fishing harbor, and industrial buildings into meaningful urban public spaces along the sea edge from the Besos to Llobregat rivers. However, a new economic and cultural situation has challenged the traditional system of community housing in Barcelona. A recent city election debated the political commitment to work for adequate housing rights, a key point that was somehow forgotten between the economic boom of the late 90s until the worldwide housing bubble burst in 2008. The incoming mayor, Ada Colau, campaigned for housing rights and against evictions. This challenging polarity between individual interests, community interests, and city interests was an ongoing theme throughout the design process.
What is the character of a city or a place?... The studio craft includes urban strategies and architectures to be grafted ON, UNDER, and OVER the current state of “Barceloneta.” How to keep the memory of the place, how to maintain a social balance and diversity, or how to avoid gentrification for both Barceloneta and BARCELONA are architectural issues students assessed, challenging faculty with professional experience and academic vocation. The resulting exploration and production enjoyed in the Final Review consisted of 19 different documents. Nothing to hide. All to be shared. 419 International Housing Studios needs the student’s will and generosity. As the “necessary agents”, students challenge faculty with professional experience and academic vocation in building an answer to weather architecture is in the systems, the processes, places, intentions, history, programs, life, budgets, in what we know, in what we ignore,… Or rather, does it occur and can be found exactly between these subjects, times, contents, concepts and materials?