Barcelona, known for its vibrant culture and their outstanding architectural buildings such as the Sagrada Familia. However, the city is also renowned for their sustainability within their efforts of architecture. Rooting from a famous Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudí, the city utilizes methods like Supermanzanas and Green facades to enable it to create significant environmental change for the good, redefining what it means to build for the future.
Supermanzanas are an urban planning concept that combines several blocks together to allow for a reduction of cars/pollution and more of a free area to roam around in. These blocks ultimately lower the amount of greenhouse emissions that are produced by cars, and not only does it make the area more livable, but it also grants a healthier, more vibrant zone that’s pedestrian-friendly. Then, building off of this liveliness, Green facades, another huge factor in the contribution to the sustainability of Barcelona, are plants that grow on the side of buildings. These tall walls of greenery are what allow solar radiation to reach the walls. The amount of environmental benefits these walls are able to sustain are beneficial in improvements to solar radiation and air quality levels.
These methods and many more were implemented into buildings in Barcelona such as The Blood and Tissues Bank of Catalonia and Media-TIC. Not only do these buildings save the environment, but also, financially, these buildings save tons of money per year through their resourcefulness and natural elements they implement. These together prove that even though the initial price of these changes is significantly more than if you were to use non-sustainable methods of building, eventually the outcome would become more beneficial for the environment and us.
If we all start today, implementing these new modifications into our designs and existing buildings, we can change the world as we know it. With carbon emissions increasing, drastically affecting the climate, there is no better time than now to act and think like Antoni Gaudí to ultimately build for the future.
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