Making city

Assuming that twenty-first-century architecture should intrinsically incorporate standards of sustainability, energy efficiency, gender perspective and others—so present in current architectural discourse—in order to achieve fairer, more inclusive, open and healthy cities, Poché, given the singularity of its urban location, proposes to concentrate the project on revisiting and reinterpreting the architecture of the chamfer, the construction of the city’s image, and new ways of inhabiting.

Taking as a reference the distinctive musculature of the façades of the buildings that define the imaginary of the Eixample, the proposal puts forward a building with a solid and robust appearance, as a composition of the city’s image that responds to the temporal and physical reading of the urban fabric in which it is situated.

The project advocates for consolidating the chamfer—both geometrically and formally—as a characteristic element of Barcelona’s urban identity, aligning with its perimeter on all floors. In a classical arrangement, a distinction is made between the ground floor—more open and transparent and intended for public facilities—and the upper residential levels. The proportions and elements of the balcony openings characteristic of Eixample façades are similarly maintained, in accordance with their residential typology. The roof is conceived as a large green communal space for social interaction.

The housing units are organised through a central courtyard running parallel to the façade line, where the two vertical circulation cores are located, resulting in a ring of dwellings facing the public space and another towards the interior of the block. The minimisation of circulation areas allows for flexible layouts on the floors allocated to the Primary Care Centre.

Housing

The housing units are conceived without hierarchies, defined by the aggregation of rooms of similar size and geometry, allowing for greater adaptability to changes throughout the life of its users. An open kitchen located at the centre of the dwelling: an inclusive space that mediates between all rooms—and therefore between the inhabitants of the home. It supports the education of future generations who see, at its centre, a conciliatory and non-gendered kitchen.

A hybrid interior–exterior gallery functions as an unprogrammed space that expands adjacent rooms and can host multiple uses—study area, living space or winter garden—while also providing acoustic protection from Gran Via.