Augmented Kindergarten in Barcelona

This acupunctural intervention recycles a sheltered and well-oriented plot inside the courtyard of a traditional Cerdà – Barcelona’s block. The new proposal replaces the existing old and obsolete warehouse into a new Kindergarten intimately tied with a new public park; both urban settlements are designed specifically for the children's leisure as well as the parent's control and security. Increasing the wide limited spatial possibilities of the located plot as well as multiplying the simultaneity of children's uses are the key points of this project. The ultimate goal consists of blurring the architectural and urban boundaries between public and private areas and finally merging them into a unique playground machine. The project is fully resolved with the coexistence of two specific platform frame systems. A flexible and irregular element named ”the serpent” becomes a tube of furniture that freely moves and feeds every room with its special needs as well as synthetizes the installations and part of the structural needs into one single uniform element. The second system is the “Meccano”, a prefab designed puzzle that divides the whole building into smaller parts, which can be transported, mounted, and connected in a fast and light process ensuring a clean and silent construction inside the block courtyard. The result is a subtle, transparent, lightly, and thin architecture where the children can fill every space with energy and color. This acupunctural intervention recycles a sheltered and well-oriented plot inside the courtyard of a traditional Cerdà – Barcelona’s block. The new proposal replaces the existing old and obsolete warehouse into a new Kindergarten intimately tied with a new public park; both urban settlements are designed specifically for the children's leisure as well as the parent's control and security. Increasing the wide limited spatial possibilities of the located plot as well as multiplying the simultaneity of children's uses are the key points of this project. The ultimate goal consists of blurring the architectural and urban boundaries between public and private areas and finally merging them into a unique playground machine. The project is fully resolved with the coexistence of two specific platform frame systems. A flexible and irregular element named ”the serpent” becomes a tube of furniture that freely moves and feeds every room with its special needs as well as synthetizes the installations and part of the structural needs into one single uniform element. The second system is the “Meccano”, a prefab designed puzzle that divides the whole building into smaller parts, which can be transported, mounted, and connected in a fast and light process ensuring a clean and silent construction inside the block courtyard. The result is a subtle, transparent, lightly, and thin architecture where the children can fill every space with energy and color.