Capsule

Penthouse refurbishment

In a rooftop on the Barceloneta neighborhood is located a 20 sqm substandard housing with a terrace twice the size of the interior. Its new owner reflects the changes of gentrification and globalisation of Barcelona: he is a digital nomad and will only use the house for seasonal stays, mainly in summer.

Adapting this former badalot into a home requires insulating and protecting from the sun radiation. We propose a made-to-measure, light and mechanised device that, like a machine, regulates the sun. Ten wooden blinds, the same as those that have been used for centuries, are placed on rollers on the roof. They slide along guides and close the house into a single shed, transforming the terraces into pergolas.

The references are obvious and draw from the nearby Umbracle designed in 1883 by Josep Fontseré in the Ciutadella park, but also from the technological fantasies proposed by Archigram in the 1960s. All of this to confront a very contemporary reality, which is the need to adapt to the climate crisis the planet is suffering.