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At a press conference Wednesday, Mayor Ada Colau announced that 21 streets in Barcelona’s Eixample district will become a kind of super-superblock — vehicle traffic will only be permitted around the perimeter, leaving streets within the district only accessible by motor vehicle to residents, essential services or deliveries. By all-but-barring cars, Barcelona will free up space for 21 new pedestrian plazas at intersections. — Bloomberg CityLab
According to Bloomberg CityLab, the squares and streets that will be come the future superblocks will be planted with trees that will shade 16 acres of new green space when mature. The area will also contain an additional 33.4 hectares of pedestrian space. Work will begin in 2022 with a the... View full entry
Rotterdam-based designer Sabine Marcelis creates a visually mesmerizing exhibition playing with glass and its material capabilities in No Fear of Glass. Currently exhibited at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona, Sabine sought to create pieces in response to a request made to Mies during... View full entry
Famed French architect Odile Decq reveals images of her first residential project in Barcelona. The studio is responsible for designing the interiors as well as the architecture for the luxury residential tower that is located along the Mediterranean Sea. According to Decq and her team each... View full entry
She told reporters that the council had finally managed to "resolve a historical anomaly in the city -- that an emblematic monument like the Sagrada Familia... didn't have a building permit, that it was being constructed illegally," Agence France-Presse reported. — CNN
Despite being under construction for 137 years, Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, Spain has never had proper building permits. That is, until now. CNN reports that Barcelona's chief urban planner announced last week that the city council had finally awarded the committee... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Spring 2019 It's time for Archinect's latest Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back regularly to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want... View full entry
Flores & Prats Architects have released a new documentary series, ESCALA 1:5, focusing on their design for Sala Beckett Theatre and International Drama Centre in Barcelona. Sala Beckett Theatre facade, by Flores & Prats, located in Barcelona. Image: Adrià Goula. The series consists of... View full entry
Brand Barcelona’s comeback begins with a contribution from its heaviest hitter: Antoni Gaudí. Almost a century after his death, the architect of La Sagrada Familia is still synonymous with the city. On 16 November, Gaudí’s first house, Casa Vicens, begun in 1883, will open permanently to the public for the first time. — The Guardian
With tourism considerably down due to mass demonstrations and political unrest, Catalonia's capital Barcelona is hoping to lure more visitors back when a stunning architectural gem in the Gràcia district opens to the public on November 16: Casa Vicens, a summer house for wealthy industrialist... View full entry
The terror cell that brought carnage to north-eastern Spain, killing 15 people and injuring more than 130, was planning attacks on a much larger scale, including the bombing of Barcelona’s Sagrada Família church, a suspect has told a court.
Mohamed Houli Chemlal made the admission after being brought before a judge in Madrid, Spanish media reported, quoting court officials.
— The Guardian
As the hearing progressed, police were attempting to reconstruct the final 96 hours in the life of the member of the cell who killed 13 people and injured more than 130 others when he drove a hired Fiat van along the crowded Las Ramblas last Thursday. View full entry
This post is brought to you by IN(3D)USTRY.The first edition of IN(3D)USTRY: From Needs to Solutions was held in 2016—an exclusive 3-day event that brought together the most advance additive manufacturing solutions in key sectors such as healthcare, automotive & aeronautics, retail and... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter & Spring 2017Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session for Winter and Spring 2017. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back... View full entry
This post is brought to you by IN(3D)USTRY From Needs to Solutions. The first edition of IN(3D)USTRY From Needs to Solutions, which took place from June 21st to June 23rd 2016 at Fira de Barcelona, successfully introduced an entirely new concept for exploring the possibilities offered by additive... View full entry
In May 2015, the citizen platform Barcelona en Comú (Barcelona in Common) catapulted Ada Colau into power as the city’s first female mayor. Ten months earlier, the group didn’t even exist.
With no money and little experience, just how did they wrest the city from the entrenched political caste that had been running it for the past 40 years? Not surprisingly, Barcelona en Comú has since been inundated with requests for an answer...
— the Guardian
"In response, the group produced a step-by-step explanation – How to Win Back the City en Comú"Barcelona en Comú is a citizen platform launched in 2014 that is the minority government in power right now in Barcelona. Many of its members participated in the 15M movement and come from political... View full entry
In the latest attempt from a big city to move away from car hegemony, Barcelona has ambitious plans. Currently faced with excessive pollution and noise levels, the city has come up with a new mobility plan to reduce traffic by 21%. And it comes with something extra: freeing up nearly 60% of streets currently used by cars to turn them into so-called “citizen spaces”. — The Guardian
"The plan is based around the idea of superilles (superblocks) – mini neighbourhoods around which traffic will flow, and in which spaces will be repurposed to “fill our city with life”, as its tagline says."A precedent for Barcelona's superblocks was actually... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter/Spring 2016Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming... View full entry
People caught running unlicensed apartments through websites will be offered the chance to have 80% of their fine canceled if they allow the city council to use the apartment as social accommodation for three years...When the three years are up the landlord [can] either pay off the fine through his or her own funds and reclaim possession of the apartment or continue offering the property as social accommodation until the council receives the equivalent of full payment of the fine. — Business Insider
More on Archinect:Airbnb now open for business in Cuba, despite anemic internet accessAirbnb rentals cut deep into San Francisco housing stock, report saysMonterey Park City Council adopts tougher penalties for landlords of illegal boarding homesAirbnb celebrates London's Deregulation Act with... View full entry
