Atelier Prats

BSc3 / Msc1

Second Hand

A used suit carries the memory of its previous user; to start wearing it is an exercise that requires confidence and time until you begin to feel it is your own. Dressing “second hand” means introducing yourself into a discipline of adaptation, and as architects, when we work with existing buildings to adapt them to a new use, there is something similar to the process of adapting a garment that has been used previously by others: you have to unstitch and recognize the pattern used before, cut on one side to extend on another; maybe a new piece of fabric is needed, we may even have to add some pockets… and so on until it identifies with and responds to the new user.

Rehabilitation

The Atelier proposes to work in urban contexts in transformation, observing and identifying the valuable social and physical qualities embedded in the area, with the intention of discovering the physical and emotional reality contained in existing buildings and to test their ability to adapt to new conditions of occupation. This spring semester we will work in four different sites in the neighbourhood of Poblenou, in the city of Barcelona.

FoodCultura

A programme related with food and its social and cultural dimension will be the activity that will bring new life in the existing buildings. We will count with the collaboration of the Catalan artist Antoni Miralda, who has been working with food since the 1960es. We will meet him at his workplace, the FoodCultura Archive, during the study trip to Barcelona, which will take place from 2 to 5 March 2023.

The project will be developed entirely by hand drawing. It is not a question of drawing skills or previous experience, but its use in the Atelier aims to make us think and develop design ideas in a more intuitive way, as well as to build an atmosphere in which the work evolves in view of all the participants.