The UIC Barcelona School of Architecture’s Vertical Workshop is held over approximately ten days, beginning in the first week of the academic year. It has been one of the School’s most important and iconic events since it was first launched in 1997. The Vertical Workshop at the School of Architecture brings together students from 1st through to 5th year studies, who are then mixed up into different teams, each led by a pair of renowned young architects from Spain. The teams then work to create a real architecture project based on social aims.

TALLER VERTICAL

Location: Barcelona, Spain
Program: Taller Vertical
Date: 2022

Architecture students from UIC Barcelona have devised and constructed four new systems for displaying and exhibiting architecture projects. These tools form the basis for creating itinerant exhibitions and are unique due to their easy transportability.

The four systems were developed as part of the Vertical Workshop. Under the title “Itinerant Architects: Systems for Architectural Exhibitions”, students from years 2 through 5 created systems which serve to offer an explanation of the projects, reinforce the architectural discourse and generate a controlled exhibition ecosystem.

The workshop also provided the opportunity to reflect on several matters of substance in Architecture, including the industrialisation of construction processes, sustainability, transportability and scenography as an element in project discourse.

The projects included an origami-inspired triangular-shaped modular click locking system; a foldable and removable wood bracket system based around the diamond; a proposal to use paper and air to create architectural experiences and scenography; and a modular system of totems that makes it possible to assemble everything from small items such as chairs to large display panels.

In all cases, these systems may be used to create exhibitions in both small spaces, such as offices, and large spaces, such as pavilions or warehouses. These elements are transportable and temporary, characteristics generally reserved for ephemeral architecture.

ITINERANT ARCHITECTS

SYSTEMS FOR ARCHITECTURAL EXHIBITIONS

DESIGNING INCLUSIVE & ACCESSIBLE URBAN FURNITURE FOR BARCELONA

UNLIMITED CITY

Location: Barcelona, Spain
Program: Taller Vertical
Date: 2021

The 25th Vertical Workshop, held by UIC Barcelona School of Architecture, which this year was held under the title “Unlimited city. Designing inclusive and accessible urban furniture for Barcelona”. For one week, second to fifth year Architecture students were divided into four teams with the aim of designing flexible and inclusive items of urban furniture, based on the principles of universal design.

he four proposals developed by the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture students were installed at full scale on the Barcelona Campus and were assessed by an external jury composed of Palmira Borràs, director of the Association Area of the Health and Social Consortium of Catalonia; Pol Font i Teixidor, member of the Urban Model Department at Barcelona City Council; Josep Maria Serra and Jordi Muñoz, general manager and director of Marketing and Communication at Urbidermis, and Maria Isabel Gabarró, director of the Master’s Degree in Architecture and Design Business Management. The jury highlighted the high quality of all proposals submitted to the Workshop as well as the commitment shown by the students to the principles of inclusion and accessibility reflected in their designs.

This year’s Vertical Workshop was directed by lecturer Iñigo Ugalde and coordinated by Nacho Vallhonorat, partner at the architecture studio Estudio Detres. It was also sponsored by Health and Social Consortium of Catalonia and was held in collaboration with urban furniture editor Urbidermis.

Location: Barcelona, Spain
Program: Taller Vertical
Date: 2019

Architecture students in years two through five went to the Capella de la Misericòrdia, or Chapel of Mercy, in the Barcelona district of Raval, to design ephemeral architectural projects that highlighted the site’s significance to the district’s residents.

This new edition of the Vertical Workshop, entitled “Silent Walls: Reusing la Capella de la Misericòrdia”, was directed by Ricardo Gómez Val and coordinated by Íñigo Ugalde, both holders of a PhD in Architecture and lecturers in the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture. The main purpose of the workshop was for the students to reflect on the Capella de la Misericòrdia in order to, on the one hand, devise new uses for the site that preserve its historical relevance and, on the other, offer solutions to the multiple challenges currently surrounding it.

“In the midst of the discussion regarding the future use of the chapel, we want to offer a new perspective on the site, recovering the site’s historical relevance as a place of gathering and reflection for people from the neighbourhood”, explained Ricardo Gómez Val.

This year’s Vertical Workshop was sponsored by the companies URCOTEX and SIKA, as well as the Jordi Capell Architects’ Cooperative. The jury this year was made up of Ricardo Flores, founder of the architecture studio Flores&Prats; Kathrin GoldaPongratz, architect, urban planner and lecturer at UIC Barcelona; and the prestigious sculptor, photographer and designer Javier Viver. The Vertical Workshop has always been an important event that represents the spirit of the school, and over recent years it has consolidated and extended its innovative nature.

“The silenced chorists sing again” was the project chosen as the winner by the public. It is a sound installation that talks directly to spectators, urging them to reflect on where they are: a chapel that, in the past, provided a home for the city’s orphan girls. The project consists of two parts: in the first, a group of people in the middle of the nave depict the current dispute between the MACBA, the CAP Raval Nord platform and the residents of Raval. In the second, a group of girls and nuns situated in the choir personify the location’s past. As the spectators approach the installation, the choir begins singing, and children’s voices start to ask who the people arguing over the chapel are and urge them to set aside their differences.