The Roman Wall

Gothic Quarter, Barcelona

This project was done in my 3rd year of architectural school with Professor Ricardo Gomez Val. The task was to devlop a project within the ruins of the roman wall in Barcelona, in the Gothic Quarter.

The Site

The site is in the Gothic neighborhood of Barcelona. Right in the site there are the Roman ruins and also the wall. This is a plot where the Town hall built a park, that has a poor use for the locals and none for the rest of the citizens.

The Users

The users will be the elderly that lives in the area, accompanied by the stuff. The project must take in account the sharing between the users and the stuff. The activity of the stuff will be in order to assist the users, by accommodate them to the installations, but not as a constant care. Every unit has its own kitchen and bathroom allowing the users to be independent. There both will interact for the benefit of the user’s health.

The Program

The project is community based and aims to provide space for the elderly users, bearing in mind the their needs and restrictions. This proposal will provide dwellings, classrooms, laundry rooms, conference room, common areas, green rooftop, and the reception including an office space for the administration. The floors are placed so there is a sequence of two dwellings and a common area. This decision is to create a system of layers where the sharing of the common space empowers the community.

The Building Design

The volumetry of the building has been thought to respect the exiting Roman Wall, and the windows located on it, the heights of the surrounding buildings, the open space and its importance in a very dense area, and to allow the maximum natural light to penetrate the complex. It will be built within the existing building, removing the core, and keeping the façade. In order to show the palimpsest of the building and the Roman Wall, the stuccos will be removed, and the existing bricks and stones will be properly cleaned and treated for its impervious. The new part of the building, intends to act as a green hat, to bring the organic forms and colors to the existing palimpsest.