Building Typology of the Social Housing Estates in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (1950-1975)

Abstract

The period between 1950 and 1975 in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona was characterized by the strong increase in the arrival of immigrant population, as it was one of the areas of Spanish territory with the greatest and most accelerated process of industrialization. This circumstance generated the need to provide new housing for this population, affecting the modification of traditional housing typologies and promoting the application of new forms of urban planning and new housing typologies that would allow the residential needs of the moment to be met quickly and economically. The article describes in detail the various forms adopted by these new building types based on the analysis of a sample made up of the 22 largest residential groups in the aforementioned territory, relating them to the inspiring models that preceded them. The analysis covers the forms of grouping the dwellings within the buildings, their functional programs with their original and current habitability conditions described, the construction systems used and the relative location of the buildings in their respective urban areas. This research aims to provide a referential instrument with a focus on the analysis of functional and technical characteristics of dwellings and their forms of addition. This can contribute to provide a framework and inform decision-making in processes and interventions of rehabilitation and improvement in the studied groups.