10 blind walls
Submission deadline: August 5, 2024
Taking a step forward to improve the quality of public space through the World Capital of Architecture that the city will hold in 2026, Barcelona launched a new International Ideas Competition for Young Architects to transform 10 permanent blind walls, one in each district, and turn them into new facades. This call, organized by the Barcelona City Council and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, made jointly with UNESCO and the International Union of Architects, is seeking architectural proposals that give meaning to walls that are currently anonymous and without any prominence, exposed in public space in a permanent provisional state.
Blind walls in the city of Barcelona
Barcelona City Council, through the Municipal Institute of Urban Landscape and Quality of Life (IMPU), has counted around 6,000 blind walls with a strong presence in the city’s public spaces. Ten permanent blind walls have been selected for the competition, one for each district, they are party walls of buildings that will not disappear since, according to current planning, they will not be covered by other buildings and at the same time confront public spaces, with the visual impact that this entails.
The proposals submitted will be evaluated according to the following objectives:
–Urban quality, that is, the ability to generate new facades for the transformation and improvement of the urban landscape, and the reactivation of the ground floors with new openings of the premises and neighbor accesses, solving corners or spaces susceptible to bad use.
–Habitability, with the opening of new windows and balconies that improve the quality of life of residents.
–Sustainability, with the incorporation of thermal insulation to increase comfort and improve the energy performance of buildings, or also the installation of photovoltaic capture or other strategies for generating clean energy.
–Biodiversity, with the increase in vertical greenery and the creation of new habitats for protected fauna.
Competition and schedule:
–For architects with a degree in any country in the world and under 35 years of age.
–The period for submitting ideas is from June 10 to August 5, 2024.
–The jury will select a winning proposal and a second and third prize for each of the sites, the competition has a prize fund of 52.500 euros.
–The winners will be announced on September 25, 2024.
–The budget for the implementation of the 10 selected proposals will be approximately 4.5 million euros and will be covered by the Barcelona City Council.
