Redirecting sunlight in the buildings of Barcelona's Eixample district, through the use of an app that would enable the user to improve the efficiency of natural light in their home. This is the proposal put forward by the lecturers at UIC Barcelona School of Architecture, Ana Cocho-Bermejo and Diego Navarro Mateu, in their study “User-centered Responsive Sunlight Reorientation System based on Multiagent Decision-Making (UDaMas)". The two lecturers presented their study on 12 September at the recent International Congress held in Porto from 9 to 13 September by the ECAADe (Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe). 

The proposal is based on the use of the UDaMas, a system inspired by Internet of Things (IoT) technology, which would allow the user to redirect the sunlight in their home through a system of mirror robots. The UIC Barcelona lecturers developed their proposal in the Eixample district of Barcelona, with the aim of reinstating the ideals of the architect Ildefons Cerdà, who envisaged direct sunlight for all the inhabitants of the block. In the event of receiving several requests at the same time, the system UDaMas would make decisions about which requests to serve based on efficiency criteria. 

Diego Navarro Mateu explains, “Although the investigation is still at an early stage, we believe that the current context needs a project of these characteristics to be brought to a successful conclusion. These pragmatic objectives are a direct consequence of the concern for the cleaning up of the urban fabric of the Eixample, coupled with an evident crisis in the quality of the housing stock. We hope it may be of interest to all the parties involved in the development of the prototype.”  

Ana Cocho-Bermejo notes, “The application of multiagent systems has been, since the beginning of 2000, understood as the most suitable route for the understanding of social behaviour in urban environments. In our case, having worked in the Eixample on the "Efficient Block” project, our work is focused on improving the interaction of the inhabitants of the blocks with their immediate environment". 

The ECAADe annual congress is one of the most important events in architecture, computer science and education at a European level. This year’s event, held in Porto from 9 to 13 September, has converged with its Ibero-American counterpart - SIGRADIi- which offers an overview of the use of new digital technologies in the field of architecture.