Family photo to open the Week of Architecture © Fundació Mies van der Rohe
The week kicked off with a conference by renowned architect Neil Leach and his seminar “Digital Theory Workshop ESARQ 2017”, which took place over four intensive days, each featuring two conferences by Neil Leach and presentations by students from the University Master’s Degree in Biodigital Architecture.
This day also saw the opening of the exhibition “Design Solutions for Social Challenges: Architecture Projects in Anantapur, India”, a summary of the results achieved as part of the subject Cooperation 1, which has been taught for 8 years in collaboration with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation. The exhibition was curated by Raquel Colacios and Iván Llach, lecturers in this subject.
On 23 and 24 May, the School hosted the international workshop “Towards Urban Resilience”, intended for young researchers and master’s and PhD students. Organised by the Technical University of Darmstadt (TU-Darmstadt) in cooperation with the Master’s Degree in International Cooperation: Sustainable Emergency Architecture at UIC Barcelona, the aim of the activity was to analyse the practices and processes involved in designing resilient and sustainable cities.
The workshop consisted of two full days of conferences and lectures, which included a talk by Dr Carmen Mendoza Arroyo, assistant director of International Relations, director of the Area of Urbanism and co-director of the International Master’s Degree in International Cooperation at the ESARQ - School of Architecture, and a keynote speech by Lorenzo Chelleri, a postdoctoral researcher whose work revolves around “Socio-Spatial Analysis for Post-Disaster and Post-Conflict Regeneration” and who is associated with the Master’s Degree in International Cooperation, among others. The event featured over 60 people.
Photo: Towards Urban Resilience Workshop
Lastly, 24 May saw the inauguration of the exhibition “Mejoremos los espacios de acceso a las escuelas de Bellvitge” [Let’s Improve the Entrances to Schools in Bellvitge]. During the event, students from the subject Cooperation 2 at the ESARQ - School of Architecture presented their projects to local residents. The aim of their work was to reformulate entrances to schools in Bellvitge. This neighbourhood presents quite a contradiction: though 90% of its surface area is occupied by public spaces and facilities, students at most primary and secondary schools are forced to enter their schools from narrow pavements. The exhibition was curated by architects Sandra Bestraten and Emilio Hormias, lecturers at the School.
Architecture Week is a pioneering initiative organised by the Barcelona City Council, the Association of Architects of Catalonia and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation, in partnership with the Barcelona Building Construmat and ARQUINFAD. Over the course of the event, Barcelona became the epicentre for a wide range of activities related to the world of architecture and the city, the aim of which was to enhance the value of the built urban environment for residents.
