Urban space in Barcelona

MAIO’s project aims not to build just a finished square, but the infrastructure that will allow its future development and completion/modification over time.

MAIO’s proposal is based on the definition of a regular grid of poles (lighting columns and vertical elements of the same height and diameter) that organizes the urban space and holds lighting and electrical systems.

The grid is completed by a tensioned cable system that works as a temporary support intended for multiple applications, such as providing shadows by means of sunshades. The grid allows answering to the maximum possible requirements with the minimum execution cost. Its ambiguous character allows permanent mutability, becoming thus a perfomatic social stage that will allow its open definition and citizenship’s appropiation along time.

MAIO, Urban space in Barcelona, Spain
MAIO, Urban space in Barcelona, Spain
MAIO, Urban space in Barcelona, Spain. Collage
MAIO, Urban space in Barcelona, Spain. Concept
MAIO, Urban space in Barcelona, Spain. Concept


Urban space in Barcelona, Spain
Program: urban design
Architects: MAIO
Team: Anna Puigjaner, Maria Charneco, Guillermo Lopez, Alfredo Lerida
Client: Hàbitat Urbà – Ajuntament de Barcelona (Barcelona City Council)
Completion: 2014