Barcelona: Social Housing with an Approach
“We are not engineers. We are not looking for the best performance. We are looking for the best place to live.”
Xavier Ros Majó at the Organising Matter lecture, BME Doctoral School of Architecture.
Barcelona-based studio HARQUITECTES focuses on finding a balance between raw material aesthetics, history, and high energy efficiency. Their work is characterized by the use of exposed brick and concrete, combined with sophisticated ventilation systems designed to tackle the Catalan sun and the challenges of climate change. In addition to private residences, they are deeply committed to social housing, which is in critical shortage in Barcelona. In his lecture, studio co-founder Xavier Ros Majó presented two projects that combine high-quality design, dignified aesthetics, and an emphasis on community living: Social Housing 1737 in Gavà and Social Housing 2104 in Palma de Mallorca. While the former connects life with the landscape through glazed atria serving as climatic filters, the latter is a source of inspiration for its use of recycled demolition rubble, which became an integral part of the new construction.
The studio was founded in 2000 by Xavier Ros along with David Lorente, Josep Ricart, and Roger Tudó, and has since received numerous accolades. For instance, House 1413 was nominated for the EU Mies van der Rohe Award in 2019. Xavier Ros Majó, a graduate of the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura del Vallès, serves as a professor at the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura de Barcelona and has lectured at the prestigious Harvard Graduate School of Design.
