Presentation

We are group G4 and this is the presentation of divergent spaces based on Barcelona’s evolution
between 1750 and 1936. However, in this presentation we will look closely at the evolution of
Barcelona between 1750 and 1823. Our research question is
"How did the transition from the enclosed medieval city to the implementation of Ildefons Cerdà's
Eixample plan in Barcelona between 1750 and the mid-19th century influence and shape the concept
of 'Divergent Spaces' within the urban fabric, and what were the key drivers and transformations
contributing to this evolution?"

So Barcelona dates back to 5000 BC, when the Romans settled on this land, however back then it was
a small settlement called Barcino ( point to map) and was enclosed by a wall. The morphology of the
city represents the classic roman grid of perpendicular streets, however, one very important aspect Is
that here, is the forum, where the Cathedral of Barcelona is placed(point to perspective and spatial
characteristic map), which represents the origin of all future adjustments and additions, so every step
of evolution is divergent to this space.

Later, after the roman empire fell, in 1260 the area was expanded and a wall was built around it
(point to 1750 spatial planning map), and in the 15th century the walls were expanded in West,
creating a new shape(again point to map), this change also created La Rambla, a boulevard which
marks the position of the previous delimitation(infrastructure or spatial planning map). Both
expansions originated from the city of Barcino, which is visible looking at the infrastructure map, the
roads maintained the perpendicular shape, just expanded. In 1714, Philip V conquered the city, so he
maintained it fortified, but built a citadella ( point to model map), in order to be able to supervise the
city.

Looking at the infrastructure map, we can realize how all the roads that exist are originating from
Barcino, ultimately from the Cathedral. Moreover, looking at the building texture map, there is a clear
separation in texture between the roman area and what was built afterwards, the new texture
surrounding the old one in half closed loop (map). The new pattern is irregular, looks rushed, due to
how fast they needed to build it. However, the roman area remained unchanged, marking an anchor
point into the future urban fabric of Barcelona.

Moving on to 1823, the notion of space begins to change. The building texture expands more in the
West. Looking at the building texture map, we can see that new buildings were overlapped by old
ones, which suggests that some buildings suffered expansions, narrowing the streets even more,
worsening the conditions people were already living in. The space was cramped and full of diseases
and dirt. Looking a bit back to the city of Barcino, we can see that the spaces here were originally
cramped as well, marking a connection between these two spaces, however in the roman area, the
reason for this was to keep people together and united, but this concept was lost along the way in
the new area, and the city became simply overcrowded.
Looking in the North, some buildings started to appear outside the wall and near the sea Barcelloneta
was being built, marking the slow transition between the enclosed Barcelona and the demolition of
the wall in 1854. However, in 1823 the wall was still a border, so people were still isolated from the
outside. One striking element that appeared is the contour of a road that nowadays is called Pasaje
de Gracia.

1903

When the city wall was destroyed in 1854, a lot of space was available for expansion. With the age of
reason now started the new buildings were planned more rigorously than in the medieval city.
Ildefons Cerdà made such an urban plan for Barcelona. He approached the design of the city in a
more scientific way. He saw the city as a living system, which was part of a larger network of urban
nodes. d examples of 'rationalist ' planning, as measures aimed a t reordering the urban chaos.

Another revision was the major streets Cerdà had planned inside the old city centre. These streets
would follow the grid structure and therefore connect the old city to the new grid. On either side of
the Ramblas there are mixed zones of middle/working-class decaying housing, dating from last
century with some industry. Gracia- high-class residential area of 'alta burguesia' in the 18th and 19th
centuries.

The other main streets Cerdà planned, were implemented in the actual city. These streets had a very
clear function, as they connect the small towns surrounding Barcelona to the grid. These streets were
sometimes diagonal to make the connections more direct. The diagonals were executed and all come
together in one point.

that everyone has the same notion of space since all spaces designed to have equal spatial quality.

1936
While the plans of Cerdà certainly inspired the newly built city expansion, the actually realized
expansion had some clear differences with Cerdà’s ideas.

Abandoned rationalism and adopted expansionism due to the social and functional segregation

the density was increased enormously, with over four hundred percent. The process happened
gradually, with more parts of the blocks being filled over time

only the octagonally shaped block development of the city and the tree - lined street s of Cerda's plan
were respected. The 'manzana' was built up on all sides and within , and atics added on top;
'manzanas' originally destined for collective services such as markets and hospitals were used instead
for house construction or industrial activities. Instead of the egalitarian polycentricism foreseen by
Cerda, a functional l and social segregation evolved, with bourgeois residences centred around the
commercial central axis (Paseo de Gracia), while t the working classes lived in the decaying old city
and increasingly poorly connected periphery, now further denveloped by the expansion of the city.

1956

In 1956 the Plan Comarcal was approved, a plan that is superficially an extension of the idea of
Eixample to a much larger area with all the municipalitie classified according to land use , with
building volume and building use controlled by regulations inherent to each classification. Then, i n