Master of Urban Design (MUD) study tour in Barcelona

The neighbourhood of Poblenou in Barcelona grew during the industrial revolution in the mid 19th century. But when production started disappearing from European cities around the final decades of the 20th century, this neighbourhood became the scenario for the testing of different urban futures. 

The start of this process was when the area hosted a brand new athletes village for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics – this was an action that erased all the industrial pre-existences. The second step was a plan to convert former polluting industry into clean-tech businesses in the early 21st century.

The global crisis of 2007 stopped this sequence of transformations and froze a scene that survives until today – it's an image of a fragmented reality. This studio focuses on the social and urban rehabilitation of a neglected area of Poblenou currently occupied with illegal settlements. It introduces a program of social housing with communal facilities as a catalyst to change this fragmented part of the city into an inclusive neighborhood.

The students will work with architecture professor Eva Prats, from architecture practice Flores Prats in Barcelona as well as RMIT Europe.