(Urban Formulation Hypothesis)

In 1980, the first democratic City Council of Barcelona commissioned us (I suspect due to the friendship and admiration that the Mayor, Narcís Serra, had for Lluís Clotet, and for the deep knowledge Clotet had of the neighborhood where he was born) to conduct a study on the potential uses of the Convent dels Àngels, the Casa de la Caritat, and the Casa de Misericòrdia, to accommodate new functions that would revitalize that part of the city. The ambiguity of the commission proved beneficial, as throughout the long process of design, the proposed uses and the area itself expanded, ultimately covering the area "From the Liceu to the Seminary."

We started the project on a 1 x 4 meter vinyl where the ground floors of important public buildings were represented. This allowed us to appreciate how the various architects had skillfully manipulated academic models to adapt them to the urban context. The entire proposal (part of which has fortunately been realized though some, unfortunately has not) was an exercise in surgery, in micro-urbanism, which allowed us to take profit of the undeveloped areas — or those to be demolished for being unsanitary — to create, while respecting the urban fabric and scale, new public spaces that would "sponge" and give new life to the Raval neighborhood.It was not an urban plan, but rather a proposal, a hypothesis for formalization, aimed at enabling political decisions based on informed knowledge regarding the urbanization of an area expected to house about 40,000 people. The proposal opted for:

· Avoiding the block polygon of parallel buildings depicted in the planning.

· Preventing the fragmentation of the land by organically linking both populations.

· Extending the road network of both areas into our territory.

· A network road layout rather than a tree-like one.

· Considering the area as the Gateway to the Metropolitan Area, capable of hosting regional facilities.

· Maximizing land occupancy, especially private land.

· Closed blocks and corridor streets.

· Not exceeding the height of buildings in the surrounding area.

· Mixed uses and promoting the location of small workshops.

· Making use of the two important existing farmhouses.