Abaceria Respira: An Urban Oasis in Vila de Gracia (Barcelona)
Abaceria Respira was born out of public protest. Barcelona’s government is pursuing a 26M€ redevelopment of the historic Abaceria Market that consists of vast expanses of concrete, a giant supermarket, parking, and just eight trees [1]. Our concept design – created as a counter-proposal – will bring a park with biodiversity, permeable ground, and light to one of the city’s densest, darkest, and least healthy neighborhoods. Over 7000 people have signed a petition in support of Abaceria Respira.
Local
Spain
Vila de Gracia, Barcelona
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
From opening in 1892 to relocation in 2016, Abaceria was a focal point of community and commerce [2]. With the building removed in 2021 as part of a municipal plan to renovate or rebuild old markets, the public saw – for the first time in living memory – an entire city block with nothing on it. This fired imaginations about what the space, redesigned for the realities and challenges of the 21st century, could look like.
Abaceria Respira ("AR") is the result of a neighborhood movement desperate for greenery and open space. Our area, Vila de Gracia, is emblematic of a classic Barcelona neighborhood with everything close at hand, except for a park. After the isolation brought on by the pandemic, our population of more than 50,000 yearns for green space. AR’s plan will double what currently exists [fig 38].
A new market structure for the currently relocated “paradistes” (traditional vendors) will occupy one end of the lot. These merchants have been intrinsic to the area’s social fabric for over a century [2]. Their presence next to 2,800 M2 of parkland will create an entirely new model for Barcelona that combines traditional KM0 shopping with green space in a way that exists nowhere else in the city.
AR’s concept also addresses the heat island effect which has been particularly debilitating in such a dense neighborhood and with new high temperatures occurring yearly. Covering 70% of the area with trees and plants – rather than 99% in concrete as per the city’s plan – will also help remediate contamination from the area’s industrial use in the 1800s.
AR has been favorably featured by national and regional media including El Mundo, El Periódico, L’independent de Gracia, TV3, Beteve, TotBarcelona, and Radio 4 [fig 24-34]. Yet as this submission is being reviewed, the city is still advancing with its plan. A vote of confidence by NEB would compel the city of Barcelona to listen to its citizens and revisit its obsolete and environmentally unfriendly plan.
Urban Oasis
Symbiotic Design
Socially Inclusive
Bioclimatic Shelter
Fiscally Responsible
Do the most with the least:
AR’s design proposes building what is needed and no more. The building is large enough to accommodate the paradistes on the ground floor along with a basement for the market’s service needs like delivery and waste disposal. This means that the construction need only occupy about a third of the lot, an area similar to the current temporary market. This represents a reduction of approximately 12 000 constructed square meters compared to the city’s plan. Having a smaller building means less overall carbon cost: less building material, less fuel consumed during construction, and less maintenance throughout the building’s lifespan.
Create Vila de Gracia’s most natural space:
AR’s design will be Vila de Gracia’s largest park. This is an opportunity to introduce greenery into the neighborhood and create a small island of biodiversity in the middle of a concrete sea. Currently the only natural rain catchment is the small “Jardins del Mestre Balcells” [fig 38]. Abaceria park will double the amount of planted permeable ground in the area. The park’s path will be lined with native drought resistant plants. Children growing up around the park will not only enjoy the space but also learn what their environment should look like.
Build an outdoor bioclimatic shelter:
The park space will have all the amenities to qualify as a summertime “refugio climatico” (bioclimatic shelter), a space that will provide relief during future heat waves thanks to its increased ventilation, green canopy, non-heat absorbing ground, and publicly accessible potable water.
A space in demand:
An urban oasis like AR’s does not exist in Vila de Gracia and yet it is in extremely high demand. We foresee that our project would be very popular and remain in use for many many years. Thousands of people have expressed their support for AR because it represents a vision that addresses their needs and the needs of the future: a city that breathes [fig 19-22].
Following the market’s 2021 demolition, only the Victorian superstructure that once supported the roof remains [fig 5-7]. For more than a century, this form has been a beloved emblem of the neighborhood. Under the city plan, it too, will be demolished.
AR maintains the shape of the old superstructure throughout; replacing it with a facsimile over the market space and preserving the original – for lighting, water features, and plant supports – over the park. Leaving the structure in place will allow plants and trees to extend through it as they reach for the sky resulting in an aesthetic that extends the old market’s envelope into a future forward vision that weaves the natural world into our urban fabric.
Below, sinuous paths bordered by native plants interrupt visual continuity to make the space feel larger. These paths lead visitors to various areas: a playground; an event space; a recycling/composting zone; a dog park; a “history wall” that documents the area’s transition over 200 years from farms to factories to the market old and new. Above, a green canopy provides relief from Barcelona’s blistering summer sun.
It is well documented that access to green space improves health and increases longevity. Pairing a market with a park will do more. It will enhance quality of life by luring new customers to the market: ones who want to drink their coffee beneath the shade of a small forest; others who are hungry for a picnic; and those who want to pause in the open air before carrying their purchases home.
Families tend to live in the Vila de Gracia for generations. Combining a market with the original superstructure captures the nostalgia that many neighbors feel but it also responds to their aspirations for a greener, more climate-friendly future.
AR represents something completely new for Vila de Gracia and Barcelona. Many people have been so smitten by this design that upon seeing it for the first time they immediately ask to sign AR’s petition.
There is no space more democratic than a public park. Absolutely everyone – from families to the elderly, homeless and wealthy, students and workers, pet owners, social groups, musicians, fitness buffs, and artists – can enjoy it. A park is a free and dynamic social space with fresh air and permeable ground, just what AR’s design proposes.
Right now, in Vila de Gracia, going to a park means making a trip. The only park in the area is a 20-minute walk and 35-meter elevation increase away from the bottom of the neighborhood making it inaccessible to the elderly, mobility challenged, busy families and workers, and children.
For 20% of the city’s 26M€ budget, AR’s design provides a solution that will vastly improve the local quality of life for everyone. It puts all 4000 M2 of public space on the ground level making it naturally accessible to all, including those with diminished mobility and the residents of two nearby old-age homes.
A park, like a market or a social center, is a place where connections and community fabric are woven and made stronger. Where different groups and different kinds of people naturally encounter one another. It’s a place where mutual respect and understanding can be grown and nurtured over time. Unlike many closed environments, it is also a place where marginalized communities are welcomed rather than shut out.
Just two streets from Abaceria is the Plaza del Raspall, a hard-surfaced space which is the center of the city's Roma community. Despite having first settled in Barcelona 800 years ago, the Roma are still widely regarded as among the most marginalized people in the neighborhood and the city, as they are in Europe [3]. AR’s goal is to create an open, public space big enough for everyone to fit in and inviting enough so that everyone gets to know each other better.
At the height of the pandemic, and during the market’s demolition, asbestos was discovered in the roof. Dissatisfied with the city’s asbestos removal plan – which was that neighbors should close their windows – a neighborhood association with over 100 members, Afectats Abaceria, was created. After a lengthy struggle, Afectats compelled the city to remove the asbestos in an environmentally safe manner [4]. At the same time, Afectats began a campaign for a greener Abaceria, holding meetings with the city, the architects, the merchants, IMMB (the umbrella for Barcelona’s municipal markets), and others. Despite filing detailed complaints and demands with the city, Afectats made no substantive progress.
Having seen the open space created by the demolition, I began creating concept designs of what a new Abaceria could be. I posted them on the chain link fence that surrounds the empty Abaceria lot and emailed copies to Afectats.
These designs caught Afectats’ attention. At that time, just 260 people had signed their petition. Quickly, Afectats became Abaceria Respira and, with my designs headlining our new effort, we have gathered over 7000 signatures in less than four months. At the same time, these concept designs appeared repeatedly in traditional and social media creating more support for our movement [fig 24-36].
Sadly, this surge of public interest has made little impact on officials. Between the city’s 657-page “basic” plan (2021) [5] and the 3536-page “executive” plan (2022) [1], the only change made was an increase in the number of trees from five to eight. Of the city’s 26M€ budget, only 0.0015% is dedicated to greenery [1].
AR has captured the imagination of the vast majority of Vila de Gracia. It now leads a growing protest against the decisions made by multiple levels of indifferent and disengaged municipal governance. This is as grassroots as it gets.
In “Barcelona Nature Plan 2021-2030,” the mayor said, “We can live in a more leisurely city, with greener and more equitable public spaces, where we can play and raise our children and where our senior citizens can enjoy life in the streets and squares. A city for living in.” [6] However the official plan to renovate Abaceria Market contradicts the city’s own environmental and social ambitions. In fact, in response to our complaints registered with the city in 2022, officials admitted that there had never been a participatory process in their design’s development.
The project’s architects, IMMB, the tenant of the 3000M2 supermarket, and the contractors have no personal stake in Abaceria, but only financial interests. Their quality of life will not be affected one way or the other by what they build. It is this kind of duplicity – the placing of commercial interests ahead of community interests – that undermines faith in government.
My concept-design was a personal vision that arrived at the right time and engaged nearly all Vila de Gracia’s stakeholders: residents (particularly families with children or pets), businesses, community groups, paradistes, teachers, students, political parties, environmental groups...
Since my design was adopted by Abaceria Respira, many people – including hundreds who signed the petition – have made suggestions for modifications. Many of these suggestions were taken into account and led to the second iteration (the one presented here) of AR’s proposal.
Right now, our primary battle is to convince the city to halt its project and incorporate the community’s demands. Despite multiple meetings, public demonstrations, our signed petitions, and enthusiastic media coverage, the city is not listening because – in the words of one city employee – “The project is too far along to change now.” That is such short-sighted thinking for such an important space. We believe that it is never too late to change a bad plan.
The original concept-design was based on the skills I acquired while an architecture/architectural engineering student at Cal Poly, the California State Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, USA and during the academic year I spent at the Munich Hochschule for Applied Sciences, Germany. I was also helped by experience gained during an internship at Studio b720–Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos in Barcelona [7].
Since first sharing the original concept with Afectats in August 2022, we have been working collaboratively on many fronts to further our chances of success. We are continuously incorporating feedback from experts and neighborhood residents. This interaction has included architectural, design and construction expertise, legal advice, political insight, community organizing knowledge, and traditional and social media savvy. All of this input has helped us explain AR’s project effectively in three languages – Catalán, Spanish, and English. With the continuous advance of the city’s plan, all this has been done under tremendous time pressure.
AR’s positive coverage in traditional and social media is growing. We continue to gather hundreds of signatures every week while cataloging the general public’s commentary. Responses to Abaceria Respira’s posts on Instagram and Twitter have been uniformly favorable. This is important because city officials are watching and aware that the vast majority of the public opposes the approved plan. And, at the same time, more neighbors, community groups, and political parties are aligning with AR and bringing their local savoir-faire along with them.
Abaceria Respira’s concept-design represents a new approach to bringing the traditional market into the future. Unfortunately traditional markets are going out of fashion as they are faced with corporate and online competition. It is crucial to the markets’ survival that they evolve.
IMMB’s current model for market renovation integrates a supermarket into each building to pay for construction and later maintenance. However this model creates direct competition for the already struggling paradistes. Barcelona is a dense and bountiful city. Supermarkets are not hard to come by. With more than 25 convenience stores and a giant Aldi within a 5-minute walk from Abaceria, what Vila de Gracia does not need is another supermarket. No robust economic data shows that a supermarket co-located with parking enhances the vibrancy of urban neighborhoods nor the livelihood of the paradistes. In fact, a nearby project built according to the city’s inflexible model lost its supermarket, leaving a vast space with no tenants and no additional income to subsidize the building [8].
In Vila de Gracia, the most needed public amenity is green space. We believe pairing a traditional market with a park will reduce on-site competition while attracting hundreds of new customers for the paradistes, particularly older people and young families drawn to the green space. AR’s design generates a symbiotic effect: the market gives space for the park to exist and the park brings clients to the market.
At a time in which many of Barcelona’s markets still await renovation, the question is whether they will be clean, clinical, and lifeless spaces or reborn into something fresh and relevant that will keep them alive for decades to come. We believe that AR can be the model for how to sustain the traditional market into the future.
AR is fighting the trend to introduce large chain stores into traditional markets. As discussed in the previous section, such giant stores truly suck the life out of the traditional markets and end up eliminating the key aspects that made them attractive in the first place: local mom-and-pop vendors who cannot overcome corporate competition. Many communities around the world have only learned this lesson when it was already too late.
AR’s process was to assess what the neighborhood needed most and pair that with the traditional market instead of the giant supermarket with the idea that introducing precisely what the neighborhood lacks naturally magnetized people to the marketplace. This same process could be applied to any market renovation in Barcelona and beyond.
We are suggesting that every time a market needs to be renewed, the neighborhood undergoes a study to determine its particular social programming needs. (These needs will of course change for each neighborhood, but more often than not what Barcelona lacks is planted space.) When the lacking program has been identified, it can be paired with the market to create a project that provides for the community and supports the paradistes.
Secondly, if a project is going to endure the test of time, the community’s needs must take precedence over all else. AR’s design was heavily inspired by and reliant on a participatory process. No one understands the needs of a neighborhood better than the people who live there. The residents are the specialists. Their feedback must guide any project to be as relevant, sustainable, vibrant, financially responsible, and attractive both now and in the future.
AR’s proposal follows the saying “Think Globally, Act Locally”. The design itself is intensely focused on local concerns in Vila de Gracia yet its solutions apply to global challenges. Our plan addresses the following environmental and social challenges:
- The growing friction between community needs and corporate profit. AR’s plan puts the community before corporations by removing the unnecessary supermarket and parking in favor of a public park.
- Many municipalities do not have fully accessible and welcoming public space. With its on-grade design and open space, AR will be barrier-free and welcoming.
- Most cities would like to have more natural space but struggle to find locations. AR smartly shows how to integrate green space into a very dense neighborhood without compromising the needs of the various stakeholders.
- Urbanization frequently leads to the loss of traditional institutions. AR saves a cherished traditional market by pairing it with a park which is in great demand.
- Cities are becoming denser and more populous; sometimes public space and monuments are lost in the process. AR finds an original way to preserve the market’s historic superstructure through a mixed-use approach.
- Many vital urban structures have been built or remodeled without the input of their users and neighbors. The result is often under-performing, unloved mistake in the eyes of the public. AR takes the complete opposite approach with an intensely participatory process. The design originated from a neighborhood resident, me, and it was modified based on local feedback and validated by a community poll, AR’s petition.
- Often political expediency in public procurement has led to white elephants, projects with little or no social benefit. AR represents a smart allocation of funds by removing those components (the unnecessary supermarket/parking) in favor of a public good that is needed today and which will be highly valued in the face of climate change.
