Dwellings and Workshops in Montbau Estate

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The Montbau plan is conceived as a prestigious operation with possibilities for experimentation. In 31 hectares, a wide variety of building types are proposed and, as a differential fact compared to other interventions of the time, the emphasis is also placed on the social aspect. The objective of architectural diversity also seeks to respond to sociological diversity and make the neighbourhood suitable and attractive for different social classes. As a result, in addition to the towers and linear blocks, 2 sets of single-family homes are built. The popularly known as "the white houses" which adopts a unique implementation with respect to the whole and these 14 houses between partitions that follow the same orientation of the linear blocks (south-east / north-west). Following the topography of the site, the house can have an adjoining workshop on the lower floor. It has access both from the inside of the house and an independent one from the street below. The houses are symmetrical, two by two with small variations in the distributions. The kitchens or the rooms alternately face the terrace, which is the roof of the workshops. The house is developed on 2 levels: on the access floor we find the kitchen and the living room and on the upper floor 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. Having these workshops also strengthens the neighbourhood's facilities and complements the commercial area.

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Montbau Industrial Estate

Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes, Guillermo Giráldez Dávila, Pedro López Iñigo, Xavier Subías i Fages

The Montbau district, located below the Tibidabo, next to Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, has a total area of approximately 31 Ha. The part built today, or in a very advanced stage of construction, consists of two basic residential units. The garden and the neighbourhood park are also practically finished. A group of about 70 single-family homes in the upper part of the slope is currently under construction, a group that we will not include in the present analysis because it is in a very little advanced phase and, therefore, without specific data. The architect of this group is Joan Bosch. Who are the authors of Montbau? Here is a first concrete problem that can lead us to general considerations. Due to programming requirements, the Municipal Housing Board decided to commission the architects Guillermo Giráldez, Pedro López and Xavier Subías with the urgency of a very few weeks as a matter of urgency. By what criteria were these architects chosen? Probably for simple reasons of proximity, administrative relationship, circumstantial insufficiency of the technical staff itself, etc. But was there a concern to choose a good team precisely for one of the largest projects that were then being developed? At least, or was there an awareness that, by chance and for reasons of bureaucratic convenience, he had fallen into the hands of a good team, then with a promising youthful push? * The original Partial Plan was altered, both in its first phase, slightly, and in the second one, with a change of drafting team and urban planning that substantially modified it.
Dwellings and Workshops in Montbau Estate

Francesc Bassó i Birulés, Joaquim Gili i Moros

The Montbau plan is conceived as a prestigious operation with possibilities for experimentation. In 31 hectares, a wide variety of building types are proposed and, as a differential fact compared to other interventions of the time, the emphasis is also placed on the social aspect. The objective of architectural diversity also seeks to respond to sociological diversity and make the neighbourhood suitable and attractive for different social classes. As a result, in addition to the towers and linear blocks, 2 sets of single-family homes are built. The popularly known as "the white houses" which adopts a unique implementation with respect to the whole and these 14 houses between partitions that follow the same orientation of the linear blocks (south-east / north-west). Following the topography of the site, the house can have an adjoining workshop on the lower floor. It has access both from the inside of the house and an independent one from the street below. The houses are symmetrical, two by two with small variations in the distributions. The kitchens or the rooms alternately face the terrace, which is the roof of the workshops. The house is developed on 2 levels: on the access floor we find the kitchen and the living room and on the upper floor 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. Having these workshops also strengthens the neighbourhood's facilities and complements the commercial area.
Montbau Industrial Estate: First Unit

Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes, Guillermo Giráldez Dávila, Pedro López Iñigo, Xavier Subías i Fages

The architects quickly made a complete enough Advanced Plan to approach the requirements of a Partial Plan (1957) so it could be presented at an urgent commemorative exhibition. After the exhibition, the City Council's Technical Services completed, modified and, in fact, redrafted the Plan until it was fully approved. Among these corrections, imposed through the procedure, it is necessary to consider some of special importance: the addition of another floor to all the buildings that appeared in the Plan. It was a last-minute 'administrative' imposition, given the fear that the land would be too expensive due to low building density. Here is how, with the simple handling of the aseptic and seemingly harmless text of the Volumetric Ordinances, one can redo an inclusive plan and misrepresent on possible guiding ideas. With this distortion, the Plan was approved on December 13, 1957. In accordance with this project, the Board carries out the first sector. The Board of Trustees is limited to acting as a general developer, making various private entities, especially Cooperatives, act as owners and builders. The administrative system is interesting and proves to be extraordinarily effective, especially in economic channeling, and even in some limited sociological integration.