Història i històries d'una ciutat

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Type of project: Research
Location: El Camí de la Cadena, Barcelona
Dates: From April 2016
Client: -
Collaborators: -
Keywords: Urban exclusion, social awareness
Status: On going

Urban exclusion of poverty not only has socio-economic impacts, but also defines who has the right to be part of the history of a city and who does not. Demolitions of self-built lower income residential areas indirectly inform the public who is welcome to be part of a city and who is not; what is decent and worth keeping and what must be erased of the history of the city. Those who have the decision making power also hold the power to include or exclude certain people.

In the case of Barcelona, residents from those informal settlements were often migrants from rural areas, other parts of Spain and, more recently, other countries. These migrants constituted the work force for Barcelona’s industrialisation and urban development. They were an essential part for the cultural an economic development of the city, however little is written about them and their traces in the city have been mostly erased.

This project focuses on El Camí de la Cadena, a self-built neighbourhood in Barcelona which is half way demolished. Amongst the buildings to still be demolished there is a mosque that appears to be the oldest one in Barcelona in modern times.

The project raises awareness about the importance of planning decisions and how these decisions are politically informed. Emphasis will be put into decisions made around urban heritage and how these decisions influence in the history and memory of cities.

The project consists of a research paper and an installation which will take place on site, by one of the demolished buildings. Each part of the project retrofits each other in terms of content but also in the audience they aim to reach. While the paper will be academic in nature, the installation will reach the neighbours, current and past residents and other interested people in the city.