Open Space Design Towards Resilient Territories: The Case of El Maresme (Barcelona) as a Laboratory for a Teaching Experience

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.20252511769

Keywords:

Public space, Open space, Landscape dynamics, Metropolitan environments, Water management, Teaching

Abstract

This article presents the pedagogical approach and results of a design studio focused on public space and landscape, conducted with fifth-year architecture students during the first semester of the 2024–2025 academic year at the School of Architecture of the City. The Maresme region (Barcelona) was used as a living laboratory—an area characterized by fragmented urbanization interspersed with open spaces of diverse socio-ecological value. Within this context, the student projects aimed to mitigate certain inefficiencies of the urban fabric while enhancing the environmental values of unbuilt land. The DANA storm that devastated Valencia served as a disruptive event, heightening awareness of the risks associated with flash floods—risks that also affect the Maresme territory. This event inspired an alternative perspective on water: not merely as a threat to be swiftly drained, but as a resource to be wisely managed. Many of the proposals were guided by this shift, exploring themes such as design as the starting point of evolving ecological processes, the compatibility between urban functionality and active natural systems, and other reflections discussed throughout the article.

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Author Biographies

  • Joan Florit-Femenias, Polytechnic University of Catalonia

    Ciutadella de Menorca (1983). PhD Architect (2014), he is a Lecturer (2023) affiliated with the Department of Urbanism, Territory, and Landscape (UPC Barcelona-Tech). He has been teaching in urban planning courses for architects since 2015 at the Barcelona School of Architecture. His doctoral research addressed the critical definition of the Central Park as a distinctive element in the singular constitution of the contemporary Metropolis worldwide. Among other topics of interest, he has recently explored how to enhance isolated housing developments on the outskirts of Barcelona, with a focus on tailored improvement projects for each case. In his professional practice, he has been part of drafting teams for municipal master plans (POUM Vandellòs i l’Hospitalet de l’Infant, POUM Sant Carles de la Ràpita, POUM Teià), among other urban planning and architectural projects of various scales.

  • Pepa Morán Nuñez, Polytechnic University of Catalonia

    Valencia (1974). Architect by ETSAV-UPV and PhD in architecture and landscape architecture, UPC (2020). Master in landscape architecture MAP-UPC, Master in urban planning DUTP-UPC. She is currently a lecturer professor at the the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB) and coordinator of the Official Master in Landscape Architecture MBLandarch-UPC. Her research focuses on cartographic exploration in landscape architecture as a means of recognizing value and vulnerability as well as the integration of disturbances in landscape planning and management. She developed her doctoral thesis specifically on the representation of disruptive landscapes and the case study of the Sierra de Collserola wildfires in Barcelona. She is principal researcher at the UPC in projects such as FIRERES H2020. Parallel to her academic and research activity, she has developed a professional activity as a landscape architect in Public Space projects for public administrations.

  • Mónica Tárrega Klein, Polytechnic University of Catalonia

    Barcelona (1970). Architect by the ETSAV-UPC (1998) and PhD in Architectural Design from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (2017). From 2014 to 2023, she served as an adjunct professor in architectural design studios at ETSAB, where she was appointed Lecturer Professor in 2023. She has also taught at Florida International University (FIU), ELISAVA School of Design and Engineering in Barcelona, and EINA Centre for Design and Art in Barcelona. Her doctoral dissertation, "Seeded Architecture: Atlas of Encounters between Vegetation and Architecture", investigates the cohabitation between the vegetal and the built environments, focusing on the points at which they come into contact and conflict. Until 2023, she maintained an active professional practice as director of the architecture studio ESCALA UNO UNO, which she founded in 1998. Her work has been included in the Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in both 2010 and 2018.

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Published

2025-12-23

Issue

No. 25 (2025): Regenerative Urbanism

Section

Topic papers

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Joan Florit-Femenias, Pepa Morán Nuñez, Mónica Tárrega Klein

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Florit-Femenias, J., Morán Nuñez, P., & Tárrega Klein, M. (2025). Open Space Design Towards Resilient Territories: The Case of El Maresme (Barcelona) as a Laboratory for a Teaching Experience. ZARCH. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Architecture and Urbanism, 25, 178-193. https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.20252511769