The Healthy City (48H Open House)

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Image courtesy of 48H Open House Barcelona.

This year, the programing of the 48h Open House BCN architecture festival is organized around the theme The Healthy City, and has been grouped into areas that can be covered on foot with a maximum walking distance of fifteen minutes between the different activities. Urbanistically, the fifteen-minute city concept claims the location of basic services at a maximum distance of fifteen minutes walking for citizens, and is committed to a fair city (respectful of people), humane (which favors sustainable mobility and cancels displacements unnecessary) and sustainable (respectful with the environment).

The theme The Healthy City encompasses different program highlights. Firstly, it's a city that takes into account architecture for vulnerable people and groups, such as the Aprop homes and the CIBA building in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, and it proposes new collective architectures that distance citizens from individualism (i.e. the cooperative housing in concession of use La Balma and Cirerers).

The second focus is on the city-neighborhood, fostering proximity urbanism and sustainable mobility and at the same time is capable of adapting to changes (with activities such as the meeting on sustainable mobility at Casa SEAT ​​or the visits to the underground water regulation reservoirs of the city).

Finally, environment, a city that is built taking into account the climatic, cultural and social characteristics of the Mediterranean, and that is globally committed to environmental sustainability. Examples of this programing are the partitioned vault construction by the architect Rafael Guastavino that can be visited in Vilassar de Dalt; the architecture of Josep Maria Jujol de Sant Joan Despí; the re-conversion of the industrial heritage of Badalona and Barcelona's Poblenou, and energy efficient buildings such as the CEM Turó de la Peira.

To adapt to the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year the festival offers, in addition to the usual face-to-face visits, guided tours with an audio guide and virtual activities. In addition, the festival is extended in time. It begins on October 15, with the opening of the exhibition Your Experience and Mine in the Espacio Mercè Sala of the Diagonal interchange and will end on the weekend of November 14 and 15, with the celebration of the first Open House Worldwide architecture festival. All the digital content of the visits (audio guides, videos, photographs ...) will be available on the association's website throughout 2020, which will allow you to visit it throughout the year.

On the weekend of October 24 and 25, you can once again enjoy the architecture of the city: walk among iconic buildings and get to know the architecture your city.