Looking into the rich histories of Barcelona, I draw from formal adjacencies of spaces, there is a resolution of scales between the private, communal and public areas. Building Communities uses memories and fragments to imagine the old, it is reinvigorated, it is celebrated.

A stage is placed on the tracks where the trains are scarce at night, views from balconies encourage the community to become actors in their own right, to see and be seen, everyone has a part to play.  

This section remembers Poblenou as layers over time. A junction reveals something forgotten, too difficult to navigate, a broken bridge, an edge, an opportunity.

Interrogation and navigation of architecture takes on another dimension, by exploring positive form, negative space and circulation through an alternate lens. A plan, an elevation, a section comes off the page.

Through drawing, through model making, through immersion and personal experience, I am present. Rapidity of making allow concepts and ideas to be explored and tested quickly. Cardboard dog models and analogue sketches work in synchronicity and push me forward.

I move bricks by pen and pencil, understand the boundaries of my site, select what interests me and what develops my ideas. On the walk, I record, clues to my project. It’s a tactile studio, it feels good to draw again.

Taking pictures like an archaeological dig, it is a meticulous discovery and uncovering of the city. As I walk, I record fragments in time, of memory, and of future possibilities.

Building Communities, of Barcelona Studio with Eva Pratts, Ricardo Flores (ETSAB) and Ian Nazareth (RMIT), is an urban project, which aims to activate the local area by being part the cultural spine of galleries, the Catalonian Theatre, and the Encants Vells Flea Market.