In 1995, the Barcelona critic Ignasi de Solà-Morales coined the term “terrain vague” to describe the obsolete, unproductive, and indeterminate spaces of the contemporary city–voids that are nonetheless charged with memory and expectation. Thirty years later, the neighborhood of Vallcarca stands as the definitive embodiment of this condition. Marked by decades of suspended urban plans, partially demolished blocks, and a rugged topography, Vallcarca is a catalogue of urban wounds waiting to be healed.

This studio confronts the crisis of the unfinished city. How can architecture intervene in the terrain vague without erasing its poetic ambiguity or imposing a generic order? How can we move beyond the tabula rasa of modern urbanism and propose an architecture of urban repair? The task is not simply to fill voids, but to stitch together the fractured fabrics of the city–reconnecting the urban life of Gràcia with the hills of Collserola –while providing a new civic ground for the community.

To address this, the course explores the typology of the ateneu. Deeply rooted in Catalan civil society, the ateneu historically served as a hub for education, debate, and culture. Today, it remains a vital infrastructure for social cohesion. Unlike the dense Vila de Gràcia, Vallcarca suffers from a scarcity of such collective facilities. The brief, therefore, calls for the design of a contemporary civic building capable of anchoring the community and extending the public sphere into this fragmented territory.

The challenge is as much physical as it is social. Vallcarca (from the Latin vallis carcara, or “narrow valley”) is defined by a dramatic incline where the city fights against gravity. The slope here is not merely a setting but an active force. Projects must negotiate this steep terrain, acting as infrastructure that manages drainage and retention while carving out spaces for human interaction. The architecture must emerge from the ground, mediating between the built environment and the natural slope.

The work of the studio will proceed as a continuous design workshop through individual proposals that synthesize contextual analysis, programmatic strategy, and typological research. Given the vertical complexity of the site, the production of physical models will serve as a primary tool for investigation–essential for understanding the volume, scale, and topographic intricacy that two-dimensional drawings often obscure. Moreover, students will have the opportunity to visit the sites during the studio trip, taking pictures and working on photography to produce the final images of the projects.

The semester will culminate in a comprehensive project that reveals the poetics of the unexpected within the scars of the city.

Each week will include time dedicated to case studies and precedents, followed by individual project reviews. Although reviews will take place individually with Fabrizio and/or Alberto, students are encouraged to attend all discussions to learn from the broader range of design approaches and to benefit from the collective research. The studio will meet on Wednesdays and Thursdays, alternating between in-person and online sessions.