Extensible Housing Complex, Raval. Research Work | Underlining the Local Characteristics

Beyond the medieval walls of Barcelona, in the vicinity of the port, the district of El Raval shows clear signs of an, almost historically imposed, degradation. Instead of a “reclamation” strategy, which would ignore the current status and introduce a residential type of a different structure and morphology, the design was determined by a strategy to superimpose an extensible core over the existing local characteristics of the district. It is a superposition of:
– Historical data (maps, records, narrations) over building blocks, street-pedestrian area networks, uses of land;
– A system of residences – potentially extensible and adaptable to the wider area – over the Casa de vecinos, which is typical of the district;
– A grid of local interventions – along streets, within building blocks, on blind building façades, etc. – over the existing urban voids.

In relation to the extensible system of residencies, the scale of the housing unit and its extensibility model retain the typology of the Casa de vecinos. In this system of residences the parting walls of the attached buildings define the succession of the buildings, defying the former rule that required each one to be in parallel to the one it succeeds. This geometrical deviation allows for the enlargement of the plans and the increase in the size of the openings of the façades. Most importantly, it allows for the opening up of the residence towards the public, urban environment. The new layout of the buildings within the building block, without prejudicing the existing relation between the built area and the street, moves the limit of the building front line to favour public life.

Dora Papidou | Reasearch team: Dimitra Konstantopoulou, Dora Papidou