Social Housing Barcelona, Passeig Urrutia - Joan Calis, Pia Wortham
Reportage about collective residential projects realised by the Patronat Municipal de l'Habitatge de Barcelona (PMHB) in the last years.
photo (Stefano Ferrando) and text (Francesco Cocco) from Social Housing Barcelona, ListLab, 2019
Located in the northern suburbs of Barcelona, on the border of the Nou Barris urban park, this residential complex for the elderly is built taking into considering the rolling terrain and therefore as a consequence, grants the residents direct contact with nature both physically and visually, thanks to an attentive orientation of the openings of the households towards the green areas and the big lake. The shape of the building is consistent with the one of the existing historical building that is irregular and uneven. Such an architectural consistency between new and existing works is due to the necessity to create an open court for the residents. The distribution corridor inside the building maintains this irregular shape, by opening, closing and following the dimension of the building, eventually leading into balconies and gathering spaces between the northern and the southern façades. This way the distribution space becomes a key element in connecting the complex. Every housing unit, oriented in order to guarantee the best views of the park, has a surface of 45 m2 and consists of a kitchen integrated with a living room, a bedroom and a bathroom, flanked by two multifunctional halls and a communal laundry.
