Mass Is More

In 2022, Barcelona was recognized as the European Forest City and as part of the events that took place in the city, the aim was to create an installation that deepens the discussion on biocities and new ways of designing and managing cities, based on the circular economy principles. The Barcelona Pavilion was chosen for its ability to encapsulate the principles of architecture proposed by the Weimar Bauhaus to, almost a century later, revive the Spain-Germany collaboration. Mass is More aims to explore the new materialities and ways of building promoted by the New European Bauhaus. If the challenge of the 21st century is to deal with the legacy of the 20th century, we must significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the overconsumption of fossil fuels and the poor transformation of waste from the built environment. This intervention proposes a future of radical decarbonization supported by bioregionalism and material circularity. It moves away from the materiality of the modern movement, steel and concrete, in favor of reducing emissions and materials that fix carbon.

Using Mies’ tectonic language, an architecture is proposed that offers another perspective of the Barcelona Pavilion, through an updated materiality. This new structure respects the original grid of the Pavilion, creating an alternative narrative and a new way of experiencing the site. The viewer can observe the city from another plane, above the Pavilion, to turn and go down a small auditorium in front of the garden, appreciating the original state of the wood, the trees that live behind the Pavilion. The entrance to the new space is located at the back of the original building, reversing its traditional direction of circulation by starting with the garden. This fact allows the user to experience the construction among the existing vegetation, the life of the tree before being processed to become a wooden structure flying over the Mies travertine.