BIODIVER-CITY
Research project
Barcelona, 2015
Collaboration / Valentina Mena








BIODIVER-CITY
Typology / Research project
Location/ Barcelona, 2015
Collaboration / Valentina Mena
Biodiver-City explores the possibilities for sharing space between humans and the local biodiversity in a dense urban environment, such as Barcelona. In order to preserve and enhance biodiversity in the city, the project is developed on three interconnected scales : regional, local and site.
The proposal acts as a catalyst for a new sequenced system that spreads biodiversity in the city through green corridors.
Biodiver-City offers different programs lead by a pedagogic ambition to teach people about the importance of biodiversity. It includes a primary school, a biology research center, a teaching center, a restaurant and a large-scale wetland park next to Besos river.
The project enables people to experience a new way of living with nature in an urban context, offering interaction with biodiversity through its spatial design and materiality.
The materiality of the buidling has been chosen to enhance the biodiversity in the project. The walls are covered with biological concrete panels, which collect water and allow for lychens to grow. They attract fauna and improve the thermal conditions of the building. The envelope, made of bricks, is adapted to create habitats for the different species by the movement of bricks, in and out of the wall structure.