Repensar la vivienda, reinventar la ciudad. La transformación del barrio Barcelonés de LA mina

Abstract

SUMMARY In the current search for more sustainable alternatives for the construction of the city, urban renewal is presented as a prime area for the reflection and practice of architecture and urbanism. In this connection, the work on the massive housing estates built forty or fifty years ago in Spanish cities, many of which are currently subject to considerable degradation and marginalization, is one of the more interesting experiences because of its considerable complexity, as the physical and social aspects are inseparably intertwined in them. This article focuses on one of the most notable Spanish cases of this type of intervention: the plan for the transformation of the La Mina district of Barcelona, developed within a Special Redevelopment and Improvement Plan approved in 2002, and now largely completed. The intervention has been the subject of numerous national and international awards for the wisdom of its approach and the effectiveness of its proposals. Collective housing and public space are two of the central themes of the whole urban project of La Mina. Here, particular attention is given to the analysis of the actions related to the residential fabric and strategies for linking the new residential blocks with a renewed system of open spaces.