Entre medianeras

Civic center, housing and a kindergarden in Barcelona

 

Once upon a time there was the first observatory in Barcelona, Villa Urania, from which you could clearly see the stars.

Now Villa Urania is in the middle of the city, trapped between two eight-storey buildings that expose it to their windowless facades (“medianeras”). Together with its garden it stoically resists real estate speculation, being constrained to public use and hosting a kindergarten.

The project aims to preserve the building, converting it into a civic center that expands to the basement, and opening a walkway through the garden.A new building attached to one of the“medianeras” will contain a kindergarden and apartments. It is modeled with respect for the openings of surrounding buildings and dealing with the different urban scales present on both sides.