Aerial view of Barcelona's Eixample towards the Sagrada Família, with green elevated paths and vertical farming volumes drawn over the rooftops of the building blocks and small figures farming, walking and resting on them

Competition Project

Elevated Urban Layers

Year: June 2024
Classification: Competition Project
Status: Competition entry
Location: Eixample, Barcelona, Spain
Team: Ofisvesaire (opens in a new tab)
Organizer: Reusing Rooftops Barcelona 2024, with Fundació Mies van der Rohe and Ajuntament de Barcelona
Recognition: Honorable Mention, 2024

The project seeks to transform unused surfaces of building blocks into vibrant, productive agricultural areas while providing new public spaces for residents in the heart of Barcelona. By integrating rooftop agriculture, we aim to harness the potential of urban spaces to foster sustainable food production while enhancing the urban environment.

Analyzing Barcelona's Eixample plan, we observed that many blocks deviate from Ildefons Cerdà's regular grid. New passages have improved public access but also increased density within the blocks. The project explores how urban agriculture and open public space can be integrated into these different manzana models.

Courtyard, Façade and Roof

Underused courtyards, often the roofs of carparks, become green public spaces with planters and urban elements. A secondary façade facing the courtyard adds greenery and private or shared terraces for neighbours. On the roofs, farms contribute to food security, lower the carbon footprint of food and reduce the urban heat island effect.

Vertical Connectivity

A laminated timber structure ties courtyard, façade and roof into one agricultural system. It carries vertical circulation between the farming surfaces, offers open spaces for public use and gives residents private terraces, bringing urban agriculture into their daily lives.

Community Engagement

Barcelona's strong neighborhood associations can lead such initiatives and give residents a sense of ownership, so that the benefits of urban agriculture are felt throughout the community.

Manzana Models

01 / 03

Map of the Eixample around the Sagrada Família, with the building blocks coloured by type as Case 1, Case 2 and Case 3, public spaces in grey and dashed routes along the diagonal streets. — 01The Eixample blocks around the Sagrada Família, sorted into three manzana cases.

Case 1, an annotated axonometric of a building block with rooftop farms, an elevated urban layer path, a vertical connection through existing voids, a secondary façade with terraces, an activity area and the courtyard turned into public space. — 02Case 1: courtyard, façade, roof and the elevated path tied together vertically.

Axonometrics of Case 2, a block of varying heights where voids are filled with vertical farms linked by an elevated path, and Case 3, a closed block of uniform height with rooftop farms reached only by residents. — 03Cases 2 and 3: vertical farms in the voids of a varied block, and rooftop farms for residents in a uniform one.

Step by Step

Visualisations

01 / 04

Aerial view down an Eixample avenue towards the Sagrada Família, with green elevated paths and vertical farming volumes drawn over the rooftops and small figures farming and walking on them. — 01Elevated paths and vertical farms across the Eixample rooftops.

A block courtyard turned into a public park with timber stepped seating, trees and lawns, framed by a laminated timber structure on the façades with terraces and rooftop walkways. — 02The courtyard as a public space, framed by the timber secondary façade.

Street view of a timber frame filling a gap between two buildings, with a green wall of vertical farming and terraces, people crossing the road in front. — 03Vertical agriculture seen from the street.

Black and white collage of a rooftop farm with a man watering crops beneath an elevated timber walkway, where visitors take photos with the Sagrada Família behind. — 04The elevated path above the rooftop farms.