On 1 September, UIC Barcelona School of Architecture will kick start the new academic year with another Vertical Workshop, which will run until 8 September. Under the title “Put it on wheels! Mobilising the metropolitan cultural convoy”, all students between their second and fifth year of study will spend eight days conceptualising and designing catalytic cultural interventions for Barcelona’s public spaces. The Vertical Workshop will be held online for the first time in its history, which not only adheres to the exceptional measures put in place for the COVID-19 crisis, but also represents a central feature of the design proposals, with a view to making culture more accessible from the city’s public spaces. 

This year’s Vertical Workshop will be led by the architect Alejandro Haiek, founder of Lab.Pro.Fab and lecturer at Umeå University (Sweden), alongside Dr Raquel Colacios, lecturer from the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture. Over the course of the workshop, teams of students will be guided by the lecturers Eva Damià, Maria Barcina, Octavio Perez and Nacho Vallhonrat, as well as architects from around the world.

Participatory street culture

“Put it on wheels! Mobilising the metropolitan cultural convoy” views the city as a basis for new forms of urban culture, combining institutional cultural infrastructure with new cultural facilities in the city’s streets. “Using the students' proposals, the aim is to design new forms of urban culture that grow from participatory processes, thus establishing new community relationships and encouraging the city to become a great network of choreographed stages," explain the workshop’s directors. 

'Deployable Cultural HUBs', Alejandro Haiek. Jaca Technology Center, Brasil.

Each group will have to propose a theatrical device that can be transported by van and easily assembled and dismantled in public spaces around the city. Each proposal will include an action plan detailing how it will be executed; a description of the infrastructure; the materials and technology needed; the network of actors –the individuals, groups and institutions that will be involved– as well as a description of the participation tools to ensure all stakeholders involved in the proposal will take part.

The teams’ final proposals will be assessed at the end of the workshop by a professional jury.