Barrio architect Ettore Arsenault is the man behind Barcelona’s anti-homeless architecture, which is being called the city’s most significant building ever.
Arsenaults Barrio is a mixed-use space with retail, restaurants, a bar and outdoor terraces.
It’s designed to address homelessness and poverty, with a focus on social integration.
“The idea of this building is to address people who have experienced homelessness or poverty, but are living in a different part of the city,” Arsenaux told CBC News.
“So to say this building addresses the needs of one neighbourhood is an understatement.”
Arsenaves Barrio was designed by a team of architects and is currently under construction at the former Barroso de Alcan, located in Barcelona’s city center.
“Barrio is the first city in Europe that has a project like this,” Ardenault said.
“It was an idea that I have been thinking about since I was a kid.
We wanted to create a space that was designed to be an environment that supports people in their daily lives.
And this building can be that space.”
The building is located in a neighbourhood that is already undergoing an incredible transformation.
In 2017, it was one of the first cities in Europe to be designated as a “homeless zone.”
In 2017-18, there were 6,500 homeless people in the city, according to the Barcelona Mayor’s Office.
This year, the city says it expects to see 6,000 more homeless people, but that is still far below the levels that were achieved in the 1950s and 1960s.
“So it’s really important that we do everything we can to improve the quality of life for the homeless people and the people living in the area, because that’s where all the economic activity is,” Armentault said of the project.
“We’re trying to create this place that is designed to promote economic activity and social integration, and it will also create a social impact.”
The project is being funded by the city of Barcelona.
The money comes from the municipality’s city hall.
“I think this is really important because we’re talking about creating something that has an impact, but we don’t have an immediate impact,” Arsens Barrio director Carlos M. Martín said.
“In Barcelona, in particular, we don.
So we have the experience of the 1970s and 1980s, and that was a time where people were living in temporary accommodation, but this is something that we can do.”
Martín said the project is a way of doing what the city needs, without breaking the bank.
“We’re not asking for big sums of money,” he said.
“We are not asking people to put up a whole lot of money to build something that is not going to have an impact.
But what we want to do is to try to make the city more attractive to the tourist, to the tourism sector and to the community, so that we get more people to come and visit.
We want to make it a destination for people who would otherwise never come to the city.
We are not interested in just making a project that we think will bring in some tourists, but in bringing people here who will spend more money and more time in the neighbourhood.”
