La Galeta is a self-sufficient cooperative housing project that integrates interior design with urban agriculture to promote well-being, social interaction, and spatial flexibility within a sustainable community environment.
Define the problem/need you are solving or addressing with your project. How does it address the Open Call criteria, such as environmental impact, social engagement, circularity, user experience, resource efficiency, and community-driven solutions?
La Galeta addresses the urban disconnect from food sources and the lack of community-driven housing in Barcelona by transforming the historic Viñas & Co. factory in Poblenou into a self-sufficient cooperative. The project responds to city-specific challenges like gentrification and the loss of industrial heritage by integrating interior design with urban agriculture.
It meets Open Call criteria through significant environmental impact and resource efficiency, using bioclimatic strategies and advanced cultivation to produce local food. Circularity is central, repurposing a traditional industrial site to minimize waste. The user experience is enhanced by flexible, modular housing that evolves with residents’ needs, promoting long-term well-being. By fostering social engagement through shared management and interactive cultivation spaces, La Galeta provides a community-driven solution that strengthens neighborly bonds and creates a resilient urban ecosystem where living and local food production are inextricably linked.
Please describe your project, reflecting on the concept, inspiration, materials, technical aspects, methods and process(es).
La Galeta is a cooperative housing project in Barcelona’s Poblenou district that transforms the historic Viñas & Co. factory into a self-sufficient community. The concept, “Habitar Cultivando” (Living by Cultivating), integrates interior design with urban agriculture to foster well-being and social interaction. Inspired by the area’s industrial architecture, the project features two central towers with a structure similar to a gasometer, conceptually representing the factory’s original chimneys.
The technical approach focuses on bioclimatic efficiency and spatial flexibility, utilizing modular housing units that adapt to residents’ changing needs. Methods include various indoor cultivation techniques supported by dedicated hydraulic and electrical infrastructures. The process involved an extensive study of Barcelona’s industrial heritage and Mediterranean climate to ensure resource efficiency. By repurposing industrial materials and structures, La Galeta emphasizes circularity while creating a resilient, community-driven urban ecosystem where history and sustainability coexist.
What do you think makes your project innovative compared to the existing efforts and ideas in the field it addresses?
La Galeta stands out for its radical integration of domestic space with professional-grade urban agriculture within an industrial heritage context. Unlike traditional community gardens or green housing, this project internalizes production through two central “gasometer-inspired” towers that act as the building’s lungs and larder. This structural choice innovatively reinterprets Barcelona’s industrial chimneys, turning symbols of pollution into beacons of sustainability.
The project moves beyond static architecture by implementing modular, adaptable housing units that respond to the evolving lifecycle of a cooperative. Technically, it bridges the gap between interior design and complex agricultural engineering, incorporating specific hydraulic and electrical infrastructures for indoor farming. By prioritizing “Habitar Cultivando” (Living by Cultivating), La Galeta transforms the act of food production from a peripheral hobby into a core communal activity, offering a scalable model for urban food sovereignty and social resilience in densifying Mediterranean cities.
Does it impact or reflect young people need(s) and how?
La Galeta directly addresses the needs of young people in Barcelona by providing an affordable, community-led alternative to a restrictive housing market. It offers a space where younger generations can regain agency through collective ownership and flexible living arrangements that adapt to their evolving professional and personal lives.
A key impact is the preservation and transmission of knowledge; by integrating urban agriculture into daily life, the project revives “dying trades” and traditional ecological knowledge, such as seasonal crop rotation and artisanal food preservation, that are often lost in digitized urban environments. This “learning by doing” approach provides young residents with tangible, self-sufficiency skills and a sense of purpose. Furthermore, the project addresses the “loneliness epidemic” by creating a built environment that mandates social interaction and intergenerational mentorship, fostering a resilient community where young people can grow both their food and their social networks.
