Barcelona Urban Design Studio Final Presentation - June 3, 2024 - Institut Municipal d'Urbanisme
This project was created during a study abroad studio in Barcelona, Spain. The site is a triangular section of the La Marina del Prat Vermell neighborhood, a former industrial area. This area has been designated by the city of Barcelona as a site for residential development to help alleviate the housing shortage.
Students worked in teams of 3-4 to analyze and design urban public spaces and housing. Projects began with street level analysis of social and environmental indicators that impact vitality. Our group investigated indicators that impact social cohesion and those that may contribute to the urban heat island effect. Design recommendations to promote social cohesion were incorporated into our final design
Our team was tasked with designing a social housing building, a plaza and a market that would be housed in a former textile factory building. Building forms were determined by our teaching team, who wanted to raise the housing above the height of the market building in order to allow a flow of public space from the plaza to the market.
Our design centered on a procession of voids, the large open plaza, a courtyard in the residential building, the gap between the apartments and the market, and a large skylight and open area in the market building. These voids provide a sense openness and access to people using the spaces, connecting the neighborhood to the park, the market and the plaza.
I took the lead on the adaptive reuse of the former factory building, focusing on creating a structure within the building that could support market activities on the ground floor and create space for a community center above.
Team members: Andrew Halpin, Antonia Washington and Madi Young.
Comparison of social and environmental factors as street level in Marina del Prat Vermell and Super axis Consell de Cent.
Proposed design strategies based on comparison and analysis.
Site phenomena analysis
