On Thursday 18 July, the exhibition of Final Degree Projects by final-year students from the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture was inaugurated in the former Ca l’Alier textile factory, currently the headquarters of the urban innovation centre BIT-Habitat. Under the title “22@_What? How to achieve balance in Northern Poblenou, Barcelona”, the exhibit includes the projects realised by ten year-five Architecture students, in which they put forward programme and architectural proposals for the northern section of Barcelona’s Poblenou district.

Divided into three workshops directed by lecturers Iñaki Baquero, Marta García-Orte, Mamen Domingo and Ernest Ferré, the students took an in-depth look at the 22@ Plan, drawn up 20 years ago by the Barcelona City Council in efforts to put the district’s old industrial areas to new use and generate a compact city model in which companies, universities and technology transfer centres could rub shoulders with homes, public facilities and green areas. The students developed the projects based on the analysis and urban project they carried out last year on 22@ Barcelona as part of the subject Urbanism 3, coordinated by lecturers Álvaro Cuéllar and Pere Vall.

On Thursday morning, the students defended their Final Degree Projects before a panel made up of architect Ferran Grau, Duna Bellmunt, a member of the Association of Architects of Catalonia, and several School lecturers from different areas. The public inauguration began at 6 p.m. with an opening address by David Martínez, director of projects for the BIT-Habitat Foundation and coordinator of the 22@ Committee. This was followed by a round table discussion featuring experts associated with the development of the 22@ Plan and district representatives, who reflected on the district’s present and future situation. Participants in the round table, moderated by Óscar Guayabero, included Salvador Clarós, president of the Poblenou Residents’ Association; Yolanda Triviño, a representative from Valkiria Hub, a Poblenou-based digital platform focused on innovation in the workplace; and architect Ferran Grau. The three agreed on the need for new architectural and urbanistic proposals to replace the 22@ Plan’s outmoded patterns and defended the need for civil society, universities and political powers to work together to restore the areas in Northern Poblenou that require greater flexibility and adaptability. The closing address was given by the director of the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture, Josep Lluís i Ginovart. 

The exhibition will be on display in the old Ca l’Alier factory until 31 July. Admission is free of charge.