Exhibitions
Gestar i habitar explores new perspectives on social housing at the Tecla Sala Art Center
A participatory exhibition within Barcelona 2026, World Capital of Architecture, invites us to rethink how collective residential spaces are designed, built and inhabited.
Social housing becomes an object of architectural, social and civic reflection in Gestar i habitar. Strategies for social housing in Barcelona, the new exhibition at the Tecla Sala Art Centre in l'Hospitalet de Llobregat. The proposal, produced by LLINDAR ARQUITECTURA SLP and integrated into the programming of Barcelona 2026, World Capital of Architecture, can be visited until November 15 and proposes a journey that invites us to rethink the present and future of public housing.
The exhibition starts from an essential premise: the main function of housing is to be lived in. This idea serves as a starting point to analyze how real estate speculation has been displacing this fundamental dimension and to claim the role of social housing as a tool to guarantee the right to housing. At the same time, it highlights the evolution of public policies in Barcelona, especially the shift from sales models to other tenure formulas that contribute to preserving public ownership of land and buildings in the face of gentrification processes.
The project arises from research on the promotion and conception of public housing in Barcelona carried out between 2015 and 2023, also included in the book of the same name. The exhibition story is structured around two complementary concepts. On the one hand, gestar, which addresses the processes of planning, design, financing and construction; on the other, habitar, which places people at the center and explores the way they adapt domestic spaces to their needs, habits and ways of living together.
The exhibition identifies seven strategies that have contributed to expanding the stock of social and affordable housing in the city: the regeneration of vulnerable neighborhoods, the promotion of housing cooperatives, the collaboration between administration and private initiative, conventional public promotion, industrialized construction, the rehabilitation of acquired buildings and the recovery of vacant homes.
These lines of action are specified in several case studies, among which La Balma, Glòries, R16 La Catalana, Aprop Ciutat Vella, Encuny, Llar Casa Bloc and Carrer Ample stand out. Each of these projects exemplifies different models of management, financing, tenure regimes and architectural solutions, while also highlighting the relationship between housing, community and the urban fabric.
One of the most unique elements of the proposal is its immersive nature. The tour allows visitors to enter five homes represented at full scale, delimited on the floor and inspired by some of the projects on display. Through movable volumes that evoke everyday furniture, the public can modify the interior distributions, experiment with different ways of organizing spaces and reflect on the boundaries between the private sphere and shared spaces.
The experience is completed with an artificial intelligence tool that invites visitors to share their experiences and opinions about living. The contributions collected are incorporated into the exhibition's discourse with the aim of broadening the debate and generating a space for dialogue between citizens, architecture professionals and public administrations.
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