New Creative Community in Poblenou: coworking catalyst of social cohesion

NEW CREATIVE COMMUNITY IN POBLENOU COWORKING: CATALYST OF SOCIAL COHESION

by Francesco Ogliengo

NEW CREATIVE COMMUNITY IN POBLENOU COWORKING: CATALYST OF SOCIAL COHESION

by Francesco Ogliengo Academic promotor Kris Scheerlinck International Master of Science in Architecture Ku Leuven, Faculty of Architecture, Campus Gent Academic year 2016/2017

Francesco Ogliengo

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New creative class in Poblenou

TABLE OF CONTENTS 0. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................ 5 streetscape territories framework social sustainability first view on Poblenou work community the rise of the creative class

2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS .............................. 19 3. POBLENOU .................................................. 23 history 22@bcn research area

4. STREETSCAPE RESEARCH ......................... 33 patterns research on site conclusion

5. COWORKING: catalyst of social cohesion ..... 57 coworking phenomenon coworking in Barcelona coworking and streetscape my vision of coworking in Poblenou

6. URBAN STRATEGY ....................................... 85 7. ARCHITECTURAL INTERVENTION ............... 103 8. PERSONAL REFLECTIONS .......................... 132 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 134 10. IMAGE CREDITS ........................................ 138

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1. INTRODUCTION

Francesco Ogliengo

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New creative class in Poblenou

STREETSCAPE TERRITORIES FRAMEWORK

This master dissertation is based on the research framework of the international Streetscape Territories research project . Streetscape Territories is an international research project at KU Leuven, part of the Research Group Urban Projects, Collective Spaces and Local Identities.

The streets as systems of open spaces are the main focus of this project. Inhabitants, buildings, and properties are related and interact with the streets on different levels, and the research on site tries to define in a systematic way these spatial interactions.

The projects starts from the concept that urban and architectural strategies can be defined by an approach that starts from the street and the related conditions of accessibility, permeability, proximity and productivity for its users. The intermediate scale, that is the scale between the architectural and the urbanistic intervention, defines the design and research domain.

Streetscape Territories deals with models of proximity within a street, neighbourhood or region and starts from the assumption that urban space, from the domestic scale till the scale of the city, can be understood as a sequence of collective spaces, containing different levels of collective use that are defined by multiple physical, cultural or territorial boundaries.

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Francesco Ogliengo

SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

Over the past five years, I have developed my own way of approaching sustainability and su stainable development as an architect. I believe that the social dimension of sustainability is a priority today. Social sustainability has been defined by Social Life as: A process for creating sustainable, successful places that promote well being, by understanding what people need from the places they live and work. Social sustainability combines design of the physical realm with design of the social world – infrastructure to support social and cultural life, social amenities, systems for citizen engagement and space for people and places to evolve. (Woodcraft, 2011)

This approach aims to change the societal, professional and governmental mindset of sustainability. Indeed, by affecting our perspective and execution of sustainable development from an environmental and economical point of view, it is the only way to change the way we live, .

The architect’s role is to generate the spatial conditions that empower the community by supporting innovation and creativity.

Too often architecture approaches sustainability in a purely scientific way, thereby simplifying interpretations of human and social behavior. In so doing, physical space becomes a projection of technical and legislative prescriptions. This results in an impoverished perspective on the city and engenders a way of thinking about it that sees the city as a simple system of functions. In contrast with this respect, I adopt the the approach of Giancarlo de Carlo, who conceived architecture first and foremost as a civic responsibility. For him, the starting point for architecture was the concrete man or individual and not the statistic, bureaucratic or ideological abstraction.

In sum, De Carlo worked to make architecture democratic.

The above image, a reproduction of Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s 1290 painting “Allegoria ed effetti del Buon Governo,” encapsulates my vision of community.

This model of social cohesion is accompanied by my first impressions of Barcelona.

The painting depicts a community with a strong interaction between living and working.

Productivity is clearly at the heart of the city; the scattered workplaces animate the street, where the sense of community is reinforced by the cognitive and physical proximity among inhabitants. The public space evidences a high level of collectivity and a complex web of social interactions. It is a place for sharing, exchanging knowledge and involving people.

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POBLENOU

New creative class in Poblenou

Architecture is not a passive element in all this. The city is cohesive but composed of a sequence of  fragmented buildings that are unique and authentic. Like the community, the city is extremely heterogeneous and cohesive at the same time.

Moreover, the architectural elements that define the building’s edge and the public space generate different spatial configurations and interactions among the inhabitants. In particular, the arches are a kind of gradient between living and working.

PORT OLIMPIC

BARCELONETA

PARC DE LA CIUTADELLA

EL BORN

Figure 1: My vision and first impression of Barcelona, 22/11/2016

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Francesco Ogliengo

FIRST VIEW ON POBLENOU By exploring Poblenou, I have focused my attention on the level of interaction among the different users on the street. More specifically, I have tried to investigate how Poblenou’s spatial organization and architectural elements support or damage the sense of community found there.

Poblenou is one of the most vibrant and productive districts in Barcelona. For this reason, there is already a network of work communities that serve as the starting point for my research.

The district is a sequence of heterogeneous industrial buildings that define a fragmented landscape.

This kind of fragmentation can be found also at a productive level. Here a new creative community is emerging thanks to a mix of several activities that are leading to a different way of living and experiencing the work environment and the relations within the neighbourhood. Communities of artists, coworking spaces, creative hubs, maker spaces are scattered throughout the district.

As a result, they are extremely isolated from one another.

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New creative class in Poblenou

Figure 2: Fragmentation in Poblenou, 3/4/2017 11

Francesco Ogliengo

WORK COMMUNITY

The reading of Pattern Language from Christopher Alexander has helped me to define my own definition of work community. A theoretical base that helped me in my further research.

The work can affect the psycological well-being, gives a sense of personal identity, and provides a sense of community. A community where people are socially responsible and every job has an intrinsic value.

For these reasons we should start abandoning the pretence that work consists of paid employment, but it’s deeply interconnected with the notion of community.

There is no reason why the workplace should be less community than your home, indeed if a person spends 8 hours of the day at work, the nature of his workplace, its social character, and its location are all chosen to make sure that he is living. (Alexander, 1977,46) In order to generate a work community, the workplace has to provide the following relationships:

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New creative class in Poblenou

1. ‘AGGLOMERATION OF SMALL SCATTERED WORKPLACES' Workplaces must not to be too separated each other, and not even too agglomerate.

-too scattered workplaces: the single workplace is isolated from the others, and it’s not able to initiate a sharing and innovation process; -Too agglomerate: the sigle worker is not able to understand the whole process, because he’s not responsible for the quality of the whole, this causes a sense of alienation and dissatisfaction.

Small scattered workplaces should be grouped defining a strongly identifiable community.

In this way they can respond much faster to changing market demands, and the degree of creativity is much higher in comparison with centralized systems.

2. MIX OF JOBS A work community doesn’t have to be too specialized, it would lead to isolation from other types of work and people. Therefore it should be created by a mix of manual jobs, desk jobs and selling, where there is a dignity associated with all of them. The variety of jobs increase a learning process where the integration between research and production can bridge the gap between thinkers and creators.

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Francesco Ogliengo

3. COMMON LAND the social cohesion can only happen in common spaces shared by the workers. A common land has to be shared even with the bigger surrounding community: the neighborhood.

The role of collective spaces is essential for the survival of any social system.

-The workers can feel comfortable outside their buildings and their private territory and at the same time connected to the larger community, by sharing facilities and services.

-This collective space has also a deeper psychological function, the absence of common land would generate ‘ an environment in which people feel they have no “right” to be outside their own front doors’.

4. NETWORK OF LEARNING ‘Creative, active individuals can only grow up in a society which enphasizes learning instead of teaching’. (Alexander, 1977,) In order to increase the sense of community in the workplaces, a process of learning should be decentralized, in a scattered system, and not only in fixed educative places. This network has to be integrated with the urban structure itself involving even local people with different backgrounds of knowledge.

Every single work promotes a dynamic learning process, closely related to the real work of professionals, by providing space for a master-apprendice relation. (Alexander, 1977,83) The workplace becomes a marketplace of ideas, where anyone can take a course and give a course. (Alexander, 1977,43)

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New creative class in Poblenou

5. SELF-GOVERNED WORKPLACE A workplace should always be self-governed by the members of the work community. These groups of people should always be small enough in order to be autonomous governing their own affairs, and giving the opportunity for a continuous social interaction through face to face contact.

This is the only way to give a complete responsibility for the quality of the whole to the workers. By understanding and controlling the whole, the workers can feel themselves part of the community.

The autonomy of each group allow a complete responsibility for the whole cycle of operations.

This small organizations should also be flexible to cooperate for a limited period with other work groups in order to satisfy the society needs, when the production of complex services is required.

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Francesco Ogliengo

THE RISE OF THE CREATIVE CLASS The word of work is rapidly changing. Long before the economic crisis of 2008, traditional stable employment in big hierarchically structured organizations have started to give away to new ways of work organized by individuals or small companies (Shuermann, 2014). The rise of a so-called “creative economy” and the digitalization of the economy, have driven profound changes in the production and consumption of spaces and places dedicated to creative work.

“The rise of creative class” has materialized in the emergence of urban startups and “lone eagles”, self-employed knowledge workers, who seek to find “third places” to break loneliness, and to maximize potential interaction with peers. The creative class, identifying their urgent need for sharing of information, knowledge, ideas and also material resources, consist of people with artistic skills in content of creation sectos (art, architecture, design, advertising, media and entertainment). Nevertheless the creative class defined by Richard Florida in 2002 is larger, including software professional, engineers, scientists.

In the context of a globalized economy and increasing competition, creative individuals and innovative industries have been identified as key drivers of sustainable economic growth and prosperity. Training, attraction, and retention of creative people have become a key issue for policy makers and planners. Hence the attention paid to the "creative city" tries to maximize the opportunities for face-to-face meetings, that make possible the exchange of tacit knowledge.

This new work community required a communication network carefully designed in order to provide a unrestricted flow of information and collaboration.

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New creative class in Poblenou

Author's sketches

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2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Francesco Ogliengo

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New creative class in Poblenou

How to plan and design a new environment in Poblenou that can positively affect the social interaction between the already existing community and the creative class by examinating the collective space.

In order to achieve this goal different approaches will be examined by studying the streetscape and work environment in Poblenou, and on a bigger scale even Barcelona and other cities that show a similar vision.

SUBQUESTIONS: 1. How can the productive space affect the social interactions and the public space by enhancing the sense of community?

2. How can the level of collectivity that interact with the work environment be defined by an architectural intervention?

3. What are the new productive spaces that are already promoting innovative environment for the emergent communities? How can this phenomenon be implemented?

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3. POBLENOU

Francesco Ogliengo

HISTORY

Poblenou is a district with a central location in the city of Barcelona. The neighbourhood started to develop in the 18th century, when a scarcity of land inside the city’s Medieval wall forced industrial investors to look for new nearby areas with favorable morphological characteristics.

The agricultural land was in this way replaced by factories. Poblenou used to be known as the Catalan Manchester because it was a reference point for the country’s industrial development and production, having a particularly high concentration of textile firms and factories. New industrialization between the 1850s and the early twentieth century forced the relocation of factories from the city’s centre to its outskirts. This transformation left many abandoned buildings, which in the 1960s accommodated workshops, warehouses, garages and transportation companies. Concomitantly, historical buildings became obsolete.

In the 1980s the industrial landscape was still in a state of abandon. In addition, even if the district was centrally located, it still had outdated and inadequate infrastructure. Even the railway lines along the coastline and in proximity of the area separated it from the rest of the city.

The result was a complex and heterogeneous development of the urban fabric that was generated by tracts of agricultural fields overlapped with the further industrial buildings.

This fragmentation is still visible today despite the superimposition in the Cerda’s grid. The combination of the orthogonal grid with repetitive square plots and the sequence of buildings built in different industrial periods gives a recognizable character and a strong identity to the neighborhood.

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New creative class in Poblenou

SANT MARTI DE PROVENCALS

SANT MARTI’ DISTRICT SANT MARTI’ DISTRICT

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Figure 4 , view of Poblenou

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Francesco Ogliengo

22@BCN

In 2000 the municipality of Barcelona planned an ambitious project called 22@bcn. The Metropolitan Masterplan led an intense development program in Poblenou, the main aim of which was to transform the city into a leading centre of scientific and technological production in the knowledge economy. This was to be done by taking advantage of Poblenou’s strategic location in the heart of the metropolitan area. 22A intended to recover more than 200 hectares in the district, where there was more than one million square meters of obsolete industrial plants.

This kind of urban strategy is known as knowledge based urban development (KBUD). It is a new model of transformation of the territory based on the emergence of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

The basic features of this strategy involve: - creating mix-use environments where business and housing complement each other.

-avoiding “zooning” where the production of knowledge is concentrated but the complexity of urban life is absent (“Technology parks”) -providing a high level of accessibility, with privileged access to communication and transportation infrastructure.

-providing high quality public spaces and facilities that encourage social cohesion.

Despite this theoretical framework, the development of the projects to date has led to social resistance and ideological disagreements among residents, scholars and municipal advisors.

The main reason for this is the lack of control among foreign investors who have been imposing their own values on the neighborhood, bringing alien volumetry to the traditional image of the urban fabric.

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New creative class in Poblenou

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Francesco Ogliengo

RESEARCH AREA

The district of Poblenou deals with a complex multi-layered structure of pressures and establish a dialogue between upcoming gentrification, remaining industries, unfilled interval spaces and speculations of real estate. In which way can be promoted social cohesion in the productive environment? Is it possible to have an architectural intervention in the complex urban fabric that will not transform the identity of the neighborhood?

location of my research area

28

New creative class in Poblenou

PRODUCTIVE SPACE period of construction before 1900 1900 - 1959

Heterogeneity

1960 - 1985 (22a) 1986 (Olympic Games) after 2000 (22@)

The integration in the urban fabric of different industrial buildings, the new projects promoted emptyvariety plots, neglected by the municipality and the of users and actors generate a complexity that become the research material for my streetscape analysis.

PRODUCTIVE SPACE period of construction before 1900 1900 - 1959 1960 - 1985 (22a) 1986 (Olympic Games) after 2000 (22@) empty plots, neglected

fragmentation in my research area

29

Francesco Ogliengo

Opportunities In the area there is an high concentration of neglected industrial buildings, empy plots, and unaccessible lands.

The area is part of the 22@ plan, for this reason there are already proposals for new interventions.

These projects are not been developed yet because of the economical crisis, and they give me an opportunity to re-think an architectural intervention in the area.

Figure 5 , 22@bcn plan in my research area

30

New creative class in Poblenou

M

metro stop Carrer de Zamora

Carrer de Joan d'Ă€ustria

sections (streetscape research)

M

Carrer de Pamplona

bus stop bike line

C

Carrer de Pallars

E

F M

Carrer de Pujades

B

A Carrer de Llull

D

research area and public transport

31

4. STREETSCAPE RESEARCH

Francesco Ogliengo

THE PATTERNS Patterns serve as a theoretical framework that can help in my reading of the sites.

The main literature reference on which I based my research is “Pattern Language” by Christopher Alexander.

It reflects my idea of architecture according to which the social dimension of sustainability has a priority in the design process.

The literature research gave a me background of knowledge that helped me to read the site in a more critical way. Nevertheless, it is necessary to note that patterns are a very useful tool for comparing but they risk becoming a limit in the analysis because they can divert one’s attention from exceptions or particularities of individual sites.

Using the reflections of Christopher Alexander and observing my site, I was able to identify some patterns that will be used to analyse the site and compare it with other case studies. These patterns will allow me to investigate the relationship between productive space and public space.

The main pattern I identified is work community, which has already been unpacked previously.

This main pattern helps to define other patterns, such as: front-back, formal-informal work, transparency, and verticality.

The latter will serve as tools for the interpretation and investigation of the site, and for the further selection of case studies.

34

New creative class in Poblenou

FRONT / BACK The transition from the FRONT to the BACK of the productive space helps to generate a sense of community in the workplace. Workers need a gradient of settings which have different degrees of intimacy. Thanks to this gradient, people can give each encounter different shades of meaning, selecting its position on the gradient. Homogeneity, wherein every space has a similar degree of intimacy, erases all possible distinction of social interaction. The transition has to provide a sense of orientation for users. For this reason, circulation can be organized with a readable hierarchy of collective spaces.

The transition front/back need not be understood only in terms of street and building. This sequence can be found even inside the building complex.

STREET FRONT By controlling the relationship with the public street, the street front defines the productive space’s level of accessibility of , .

The front has to be recognizable by a main entrance that gives an identifiable character to the productive space in the neighbourhood.

BACK We can differentiate two types of back: quiet back and noisy back. Both of them can be formal or informal work spaces.

Quiet back is more intimate, silent and private. It can be made up of a green space and can be used by the workers to take a rest during the work day.

Noisy back can be a loading-unloading space or a space of production. The fact that it is situated in the back side is positive because it does not disturb the neighbourhood and does not ruin the relationship with the street.

35

Francesco Ogliengo

FORMAL / INFORMAL WORK

It is important to give equal importance to formal and informal work. As a matter of fact, the space for informal activities used by the workers has a primary role in the level of social interaction and cohesion in the work environment.

This informal relationship allows for the exchange of information and knowledge and helps to COMMUNITY improve social cohesion and cross-fertilization.

A space for informal activities can enhance both creativity and efficiency thanks to the high level of sharing. Following this, the improvement of creativity and efficiency will also influence productivity.

Informal work requires a well-defined space. A large collective space is not sufficient for encouraging the relationship., Â However, the presence of more spaces designed for informal work geared to different uses and activities is necessary.

It is important to organize spaces that have a gradient of intimacy and exposition with the ND BACK neighbourhood and formal work spaces at the same time. The presence of more levels allows workers to have simple or complex interactions and build relationships.

INFORMAL WORK

ECTIVE

FORMAL

INFORMAL

INDIVIDUAL

COLLECTIVE

RENCY / VISIBILITY

36

BACK

New creative class in Poblenou

TRANSPARENCY Transparency can enhance the sense of community by increasing the cognitive proximity between users.

There are two levels of visibility:

- Interaction between the public street and the work space: the visibility of any workplace from the public street help to give workers dignity by enhancing and underlining the the value of work. It also animates the facades, engaging and educating the public.

The interaction between the productive space and the street can activate a learning process that has different degrees of involvement. This learning process depends on the materiality and ORMAL WORK the opening to the street.

- Interaction inside the work environment: E Transparency likewise promotes social cohesion inside the workplace, and the visual connection among peers generates a sense of belonging to an identifiable community. Visibility also becomes a tool to promote innovation and creativity.

Nowadays, transparency can easily become a branding tool to turn a profit, as when the productive space is presented like a showroom. In this case, the interactions among people are not positive.

VERTICALITY

Verticality in the work environment can have a negative effect on the relationship with the public street and the collective spaces at the ground level. Alongside this, social interaction inside the building tends to become weak.

High buildings  also damage light, air and views, as well as people’s mental and physical healthy. .

Verticality takes people away from the ground and away from everyday society as it is CY / VISIBILITY experienced on sidewalks. Going out, then, becomes formal and awkward for most people.

Christopher Alexander wrote:

S

The problems begin when buildings are more than four stories high. At three or four stories, one can still walk comfortably down to the street, and from a window you can still feel part of the street scene: you can see details in the street (Alexander, 1977,57)

Author's sketches

37

RESEARCH ON SITE

PEDESTRIAN PUBLIC SPACE

investigation of the relation between the street and the productive space.

OUTDOOR COLLECTIVE SPACE THAT GENERATES THE TRANSITION STREET-PRODUCTIVE SPACE PRODUCTIVE SPACE

FRONT - BACK

VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION

HORIZONTAL PEDESTRIAN ENTRANCE

PEDESTRIAN PUBLIC SPACE

PRODUCTIVE SPACE

PRODUCTIVE SPACE

OUTDOOR COLLECTIVE SPACE THAT GENERATES THE TRANSITION STREET-PRODUCTIVE SPACE

VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION

38 HORIZONTAL VEHICLE ENTRANCE (LOADING AND UNLOADING)

HORIZONTAL VEHICLE ENTRANCE (LOADING AND UNLOADING) HORIZONTAL PEDESTRIAN ENTRANCE

investigation of the relation between the street and the productive space.

PEDESTRIAN PUBLIC SPACE

the research area

OUTDOOR COLLECTIVE SPACE THAT GENERATES THE TRANSITION STREET-PRODUCTIVE SPACE VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION

investigation of the relation between the street and the productive space. transition front-back in

FRONT / BACK

FRONT / BACK

HORIZONTAL VEHICLE ENTRANCE (LOADING AND UNLOADING)

RONT / BACK

Francesco Ogliengo

New creative class in Poblenou

Figure 7 , Poblenou street scenes, transition front - back

The map shows an overview of the distribution of productive spaces in the area, and their relation with the street. For this reasons the analysis takes in account the level of transparency and verticality in the transition front/back. On the other hand the different between formal-informal work in not considered.

- the workplaces situated in the same block are isolated, even if they are physically close, there is a lack of courtyards, and shared backyards between them, that would have provide a cognitive proximity and a sense of community.

- the street and the side walk is the main space where social interactions between workers can occur.

In the 62% of productive spaces the entrance co-exist with space for loading and unloading or they are a vehicle and pedestrian entrance at the same time.

25% of the productive buildings have a pedestrian entrance which open directly on the sidewalk.

43% of the productive space have a vertical distribution, where enclose staircases, elevators lead directly to the workspace.

39

ADAPTABLE COLLECTIVE SPACE

Francesco Ogliengo

BARS, RESTAURANT, SUPERMARKETS LEVEL OF INTENSITY OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

INFORMAL WORK INFORMAL WORK

ADAPTABLE COLLECTIVE SPACE

BARS, RESTAURANT, SUPERMARKETS

informal work in the research area

LEVEL OF INTENSITY OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

40

investigation of the relation between t street and informa activities of the wo community

New creative class in Poblenou

The map shows an overview of the distribution of informal activities of the workers in the area.

The informal activities happen mainly during the lunch break, for this reason the position of bars, and restaurant have a crucial role defining where the social interactions are placed.

- The proximity to the front affects the intensity of activities.

Along the sidewalks there is a frequency of interaction much higher then in the open public green spaces, where there is a lower density of fronts.

Figure 8 , Poblenou street scenes, informal activities

41

Francesco Ogliengo

SECTION AA Carrer de Llull 54

VERTICALITY

TRANSPARENCY

work community

local community

co-working

side walk

INDIVIDUAL-FORMAL WORK

parking

two-way street

parking

side walk

officies

FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION

FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION INDIVIDUAL-FORMAL WORK COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK

42

o-working king

alk ide walk

ENTRANCE AL-FORMALTRANSITION WORK

parking g

ay wo-way street street

parking g

alk ide walk

ENTRANCE TRANSITION

work community FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION local community New creative class in Poblenou

FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION INDIVIDUAL-FORMAL WORK co-working

side walk

parking

two-way street

parking

side walk

AL-FORMAL WORK INDIVIDUAL-FORMAL In the area there are several industrial buildings COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK WORK

built in 70’. The entrance of these seven-story COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK buildings create an extension of the sidewalk. This VERTICALITY space is used for loading and unloadingFRONT (formal ENTRANCE TRANSITION / ENTRANCE TRANSITION work), the visibility from the sidewalk activates AL-FORMAL WORK INDIVIDUAL-FORMAL WORK the building edge, but there are few interactions with the work community in the neighbourhood.

COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK Inside the building there is an interesting mix of professions. This interesting agglomeration of small productive activities is not able to create social cohesion in the building. The main reasons are the lack of space for common informal activities and INDIVIDUAL FORMAL WORK the distribution. Elevators, close staircases, narrow TRANSPARENCY corridors without windows are not attractive space for human relations. People lose their orientation work community local community with the street, reaching their workplace. co-working

side walk

parking

two-way street

parking

side walk

officies

The emergent creative community in the neighbourhood, even if it has a central role in the FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION dynamic of innovation in the area, does not have INDIVIDUAL-FORMAL WORK INDIVIDUAL-FORMAL WORK any kind of visibility.

TRANSITION FRONT/BACK TRANSITION FRONT/BACK

COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK

TRANSITION FRONT/BACK

TRANSITION FRONT/BACK TRANSITION FRONT/BACK

TRANSITION FRONT/BACK

TRANSITION FRONT/BACK

TRANSITION FRONT/BACK

FORMAL - INFORMAL WORK Figure 9, transition front-back

FORMAL - INFORMAL WORK inside an industrial building Figure 10, Coworking space (BCnewt) FORMAL - INFORMAL WORK

43

FORMAL - INFORMAL WORK

Francesco Ogliengo

SECTION BB Carrer de Pujades, 58

VERTICALITY

work community

work community

local community

local community

commerce officie

side walk

bike line

two-way street

side walk

residence and coworking

FORMALINFORMAL WORK

INDIVIDUAL FORMAL WORK FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION

FRONT

The causeway creates two small squares. These squares may be an interesting place for informal activities due to the good orientation, the greenery, and the separation from the busy road. Nevertheless the social interactions are extremely weak. (right side) The ‘common land’ is occupied by parked cars and by trucks for loading POCKET PARK and unloading. (left side) There is only one entrance that open to the public space. It’s a warehouse where a community of artist is living and working inside. Looking at the building from outside, it looks unused. There is not any degree of transparency. The artistic community and the inner environment doesn’t affect the public space.

COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK POCKET PARK

44

work community

New creative class in Poblenou

work community work community

INDIVIDUAL INFORMAL WORK

unity

FORMALINFORMAL WORK FORMALFRONT INFORMAL WORK FORMALINFORMALFRONT WORK

work community

commerce officie

side walk

bike line

two-way street

Many artists had arrived in Poblenou since the 1980s, because it was one of poorer neighbourhood, offering spaces local suitable in community local community old industry buildings. This artist process of location was interrupted by the new renewal plan implemented under public sector leadership, which began a process of gentrification at the end of the twentieth century. The artists workshops in INDIVIDUAL FORMAL WORK the are are now dispersed and few in number. side walk

residence

WORK

residence residence residence and coworking and coworking and coworking

Studio P52 is a community of artist that organizes projects and events.

FRONT

FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION

RONT

COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK POCKET PARK POCKET PARK COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK

POCKET PARK

POCKET PARK

POCKET PARK

COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK POCKET PARK

ACK

INDIVIDUAL WORK TRANSITIONINFORMAL FRONT/BACK TRANSITION TRANSITIONFRONT/BACK FRONT/BACK

WORK

FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION

INDIVIDUAL INFORMAL WORK

INDIVIDUAL FORMAL WORK

Figure 11, street scenes in Poblenou, and view inside Studio P52 ecremmoc eicfifo

45

FORMAL-INFORMAL WORK FORMAL-INFORMAL WORK FORMAL-INFORMAL WORK

lo

lo local

Francesco Ogliengo

SECTION CC Carrer de Pamplona, 98

local community

VERTICALITY

POCKET PARK FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION

local community

local community

work community

COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK

POCKET PARK

POCKET PARK

FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION

FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION

(right side) The building is arranged around a courtyard with directs access from the street.

The site is occupied by various companies and it’s a good example of reuse of industrial site.

The main entrances and the open staircases are placed in the courtyard that has a crucial role in the building, this space is used for informal activities, generating a sense of community it the work environment. At the same time it creates a transition from the street, keeping a visual connection with the public space.

TRANSITION FRONT/BACK TRANSITION FRONT/BACK

46

TRANSITION FRONT/BACK

VERTICALITY

New creative class in Poblenou

TRANSITION FRONT/BACK

local community (leftlocal side) The office community

work community

building was built in work community 2006. Like most of the new project, it tries to rethink the permeability of the blocks.

A new public corridor cross the whole COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK block. This area is not working as social COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK POCKET PARK space. The monolithic and monofunctional POCKET PARK buildings take away the direct light and FRONT make it unfriendly.

This//ENTRANCE public spaceTRANSITION is also FRONT ENTRANCE TRANSITION unused for its uncertain program. Although local community local community work community open to the public, it is bordered by narrow entrances, and entering in a public space through doors, corridors, and stairs tends to COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK K keep away people who are not entering with POCKET PARK RANCE TRANSITION a specific goal in mind. In fact there are not FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION public facilities and any kind of involvement along the building edges. For this reasons the design of this open space does not work as shortcut.

POCKET PARK

TRANSITION FRONT/BACK

TRANSITION TRANSITION FRONT/BACK FRONT/BACK

ONT/BACK

POCKET PARK COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK

Figure 12 , street scenes in Poblenou

47

POCKET POCKET PARK COLLECTIVE COLLECTIVE INFORMAL WORK

Francesco Ogliengo

SECTION DD Carrer de LLull, 38

VERTICALITY

bar

pedestrian square

parking

officies

local community

work community

POCKET PARK INFORMAL WORK

48

New creative class in Poblenou

bar

pedestrian square

parking

The residential and office building was built in 2006, the project clearly shows in which way the new interventions in the neighbourhood are a changing the local community public space. The building is set back from the street, and it gives air and light to the public space, nevertheless the open green space is not used because of a lack of urban furnitures and activities, it POCKET PARK destroys even the street as a social space because it’s not defined anymore by the building fronts.

work community

INFORMAL WORK

pedestrian square

parking

officies

local community

POCKET PARK

Figure 13 , street scenes in Poblenou

49

VERT

Francesco Ogliengo

SECTION DD Carrer de Pallars 106

work community

local community

FRONT/ ENTRNACE TRANSITION INFORMAL WORK work community

FORMAL WORK

local community

work community

FRONT/ ENTRNACE TRANSITION INFORMAL WORK

FORMAL WORK

FORMAL WORK

(right side) P99 is a new centre for professionals of small and medium companies in the 22a district. The glazed wall on the sidewalk is used to promote commercial activities. A public corridor cuts the block and should work as gradient from the productive space and the street but this ‘left over land’ is not used by locals because too narrow and unfriendly.

50

New creative class in Poblenou local community

informal work formal work vertical circulation

Figure 14 , street scenes in Poblenou

51

work community

FORMAL WORK

spatial organization of the ground floor inside the the P99 innovative center

Francesco Ogliengo

SECTION EE Carrer de Joan d'Àustria, 81

local community

work community

TRANSITION FRONT/BACK FORMAL/INFORMAL WORK

The warehouse is shared by two design companies. The threshold of the entrance door is the only transition from the sidewalk to the productive space. Formal and informal activities occur inside the building. The common area shared by the two offices workthe community local community become an extension of the street for temporary events few days during year.

TRANSITION FRONT/BACK FORMAL/INFORMAL WORK

52

New creative class in Poblenou

POBLENOU URBAN DISTRICT The work community can be considered as part of the new emergent creative community in Poblenou. The companies are members of the association Poblenou Urban District. the Poblenou Urban District, founded in 2012, is an an association that aims to promote the area as Creative district, the newest cultural and entrepreneurial epicentre inside the metropolitan frame of Barcelona.

The mission is: - showcase Poblenou’s community of artists and creators.

-advocate the association’s value through annual events and themed circuits.

-impulse the commercial, cultural and entrepreneurial offers of the area, -encourage the exchange of experiences among other multidishiplinary movements of the district, -collaborate with similar initiatives around the world.

Although Poblenou is going through an unstoppable transformation led by the creative community that’s promoted by the Poblenou Urban District, these hubs don’t have any visibility toward the public space, they are close community that are not changing the aspect of the area. The social interactions with the neighbourhood and with the other members are sporadic. Few times during the year, there are events called ‘Openday’ and ‘Opennight’. The gates are open to the local community and the common area are shared with the neighbourhood. A dynamic learning process is activated in a scattered way in the whole district.

Figure 15 , street scenes in Poblenou, and view inside 'Talleres Europa'

53

Francesco Ogliengo

1. The productive spaces in the same block, have a linear transition front-back.

The lack of a backyard that could be used as common land enhance the cognitive distance between the workers.

?

-there is an overlapping of activities in the street. The informal work required different level of exposition and the street is not providing a gradient of intimacy.

2. the new interventions in the area try to re-think the permeability of the blocks in order to increase the public space.

-narrow alleys between monolithic office buildings, and oversized courtyards defined by monofunctional buildings are not used by the workers and the inhabitants.

-setting back the buildings is not a solution to the lack of collective spaces. The distance between people increase drastically.

?

54

New creative class in Poblenou

3. In the area there is a low level of transparency that may engage people and activate a learning process. In particular the creative community are placed in alienating buildings or they don’t have any social interaction with the neighbourhood.

Nevertheless they are extremely innovative and authentic as work community because of the ‘human scale’ of the work environment.

5. The new office buildings are extremely visible from the street, they are like showroom that are generating a rift in the district.

?

4. The fragmentation of the different industrial buildings that gives identity to the neighbourhood is weaken by the new monolithic interventions.

55

56

5. COWORKING catalyst of social cohesion

57

Francesco Ogliengo

COWORKING PHENOMENON The term coworking has started to be used as a buzzword and its meaning is far from clearly defined. Not all shared offices that use the term to define themselves can be considered as such. Defining coworking space as “open-plan office environments in which they work alongside other unaffiliated professionals for a fee” (Spinuzzi, 2012, p. 399) do not consider one of the most important features of coworking space, and that differentiate them from mere shared offices: the focus on the community and its knowledge sharing dynamics.

Coworking.com defines coworking as: “a global community of people dedicated to the values of Collaboration, Openness, Community, Accessibility, and Sustainability in their workplaces” (Coworking.com) and clarifies it: “The idea is simple: independent professionals and those with workplace flexibility work THE COWORKING MARKET IS STILL GROWING AT A HIGH RATE 13.800 NUMBER OF COWORKING SPACES WORLDWIDE

THE COWORKING MARKET IS STILL GROWING AT A HIGH RATE

11.300 8.700

5.800 3.600 1.130

2.070 1.530

530

940

2011

2012

2.900

2.200

2013

2.600

2.500 NET NEW

2014

2015*

2016*

2017* 1.180.000

NUMBER OF MEMBERS WORLDWIDE

835.000 510.000 295.000 43.000 81.000 22.000

2011

38.000

2012

151.000 70.000

2013

144.000

2014

325.000

345.000

215.000 NET NEW

2015*

2016* 58

4%

2017*

Figure 16: 2017 Global Coworking Survey

13.800

BER OF COWORKING SPACES LDWIDE

New creative class in Poblenou 11.300

5.800 3.600

8.700

1.130

5.800

2.070

2.200

1.530

530

940

2011

2012

2013

2014

2.900

2015*

2.600

2.070 940

2012

better together than they do alone. Coworking spaces are about community-building and 2.900 2.600 2.500 NUMBER OF MEMBERS 2.200 sustainability.

Participants agree to uphold the values set forth by the movement’s founders, as 1.530 NET NEW WORLDWIDE well as interact and share with one another. We are about creating better places to work and as a2013 result, a 2014 better way to work.”

(Coworking.com).

2015* 2016* 2017*

20

1.1

835.000

510.000 1.180.000 The first “official” coworking space was founded

by Brad Neuberg in 2005 when he organized Spiral Muse in San Francisco as a reaction of the lack of social implication of business centers NUMBER OF MEMBERS 295.000 and the unproductivity of working at home.

Since then, the coworking phenomenon has spread WORLDWIDE 215.000 151.000 144.000 81.000 all over the world, as it’s showed835.000 in the 2017 Global Coworking Survey.

43.000 70.000 22.000

2

2016*

3.600

0

1

8.700

325.000

3

38.000

2012 2013 2014 2015* 2016* There are several networks of coworking spaces that operate2011 CWS in several locations, such as WeWork, The Hub,510.000 NextSpace or Urban Station. Nevertheless, the majority of coworking spaces are small local private startups that run independently with only one or two locations.

Some of them are organized in associations to offer more services and create more values 295.000 345.000 1% 4%for 325.000 their151.000 members.

215.000 2%

3.000 81.000

22.000

2011

38.000

2012

144.000

70.000

NET NEW

4%

5%

2013

2014

2015*

2016*

2017*

11% THE COWORKING SPACE IS MORE THAN JUST A COWORKING SPACE 14 %

1% 4% 4%

2%

Figure 17, 2017 Global Coworking Survey

5%

Coworking Space Community Space Mixed Space Shared Office Business Center Incubator or Accelerator Artist Space Other

11% 14 %

58 %

THE COWORKING SPACE IS MORE THAN JUST A COWORKING SPACE

Coworking Space Community Space

59

MORE COWORKING SPACES BECOME PROFITABLE

58 %

Francesco Ogliengo

Coworking Space Community Space Mixed Space Shared Office Business Center Nevertheless, the majority of coworking spaces are small local private startups that run or Some Accelerator independently with only one orIncubator two locations. of them are organized in associations to Space offer more services and createArtist more values for their members.

Other For these reasons, we can say that coworking can be the answear for my third research THE COWORKING SPACE IS question. Indeed it is a new productive space that can promote an innovative environment for MORE THAN JUST A the new emergent communities.

COWORKING SPACE

MORE COWORKING SPACES BECOME PROFITABLE

39%

32%

34%

36%

41%

2015

2016

23%

23%

profitable 2012

2013

2014

unprofitable 38%

36%

33%

MORE COWORKING SPACES BECOME PROFITABLE Figure 18, 2017 Global Coworking Survey

60

New creative class in Poblenou

COWORKING IN BARCELONA AND POBLENOU Barcelona is currently the European city with the higher density of coworking spaces. The abundance of coworking in a city has something to do with the urban liveliness and vibrancy that makes a place faschinable and attractive for artist and entrapreneurs.

The explosion of the phenomenon in Barcelona is related mainly to the Spanish economic crisis. The high quantity of empty offices and corporate buildings led the owners and real estate agents to try to monetize their spaces thank to low low rent shared offices. The distribution of coworking in Barcelona is not homogeneous, most of the coworking are located in the central area of the city (Eixample, and Mediaeval district), but there is a high concentration even in Gracia and Poblenou.

In most of the case the main reason for the cooperation is to reduce the costs. The financial crisis and the lack of funding may be at the origin of this collaboration, that allow them to have access to a privilage location. However sharing costs does not lead to an innovative practice. In many cases these coworking are based on real estate, a private person try to get an economic return by renting an empty office or building. The title ‘coworking’ become just a sign on the door to attract people. (Capdevila, 2015, p. 3) In Poblenou, The creation of coworking spaces is already supported by local authorities as part of the larger urban development projects aimed at the emergence of a “creative district”.

The 22@ District has become the paradigm of the urban and the technological renovation of Barcelona. The project has gradually transformed Poblenou’s industrial land into an innovative district, cornered by modern companies and increasing its number of shared workspaces. For this reason this area of Barcelona is an ideal ecosystem for the coworking movement.

Figure 19 , The geographic distribution of coworking spaces in different districts of Barcelona

61

Francesco Ogliengo

COMMUNITY INSIDERS

LOCAL ACTORS (firms, citizens, Govermental bodies)

LOCALIZED DYNAMICS OF INNOVATION

CREATIVE INDIVIDUALS “The underground”

COWORKING SPACE ”the middleground”

INNOVATIVE FIRMS “the upperground”

FIRMS IN CONTACT WITH THE CREATIVE CLASS VISIBILITY OF OF CREATIVE INDIVIDUALS, NOT HIRED BY FIRMS

EXPLOITATION OF CREATIVE ENDEAVORS - FOLLOWING MANAGERIAL MARKET LOGICS

interaction articulated through...

TEMPORARY FORMS OF SPACE AND PLACES

PLATFORMS OF LOCAL INTERACTION ON A PERMANENT BASIC

PLACES

WHERE INDIVIDUAL CAN INTERACT IN A FORMAL AND INFORMAL ENVIRONMENT

EVENTS

SPACES

WHERE INDIVIDUAL CAN INTERACT IN A FORMAL AND INFORMAL ENVIRONMENT

INNOVATION LOCALLY CREATED IS EXPOSED AND SHARED WITH THE LARGER COMMUNITY

62

PROJECTS

CONTACT BETWEEN LOCAL ACTORS WITH EXTERNAL SOURCES

New creative class in Poblenou

STREETSCAPE AND COWORKING This empirical qualitative research analyses the innovative process of coworking in Barcelona.

For the analysis and comparison between these case studios I have used the patterns that I have identified previously.

Thanks to this framework I will define the spatial organization of the coworking space and the relation between the work community and the neighbourhood.

The sections can clearly show the level of transparency and in which way the coworking space engage the local people, by activating a learning process.

The realtionship between the spaces designated for formal and informal work is readable looking at the plans of these innovative work environments.

informal work

collective formal work

individual formal work vertical circulation outdoor / indoor transparency

63

Francesco Ogliengo

MOB – Makers of Barcelona location: Eixample

MOB is one of the most innovative coworking space in Barcelona. It doesn’t want to be just a shared workspace between coworkers, but an ‘Hub of talents’ and a platform that works as middleground between creative individuals and innovative firms.

The visibility is given by a vibrant contact with the neighbourhood. Several workshops, courses open to the public are organized during the year. Temporary events are set on the sidewalk and on the street.

The Fabcafè is placed between the public street and the coworking space. Everyone in the neighbourhood can use the 3d printer, thanks to the help of experts. For this reason it differs from the traditional Fablab where the only users are the members and professionals.

work community work community

street

parking

parking side walk

side walk

vestibule

vestibule

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public bar maker space

public bar maker space

coworking space

coworking space

GROUND FLOOR GROUND FLOOR

New creative class in Poblenou

local community

commerce

side walk

parking

street

SPATIAL ORGANIZATION: Linear and readable transition front-back on the street level.

Informal work: the workers use mainly the bar and the sidewalk for informal activities, both shared with the neighbourhood.

Transparency: the Fabcafe is extremely visible form the sidewalk, thanks to the glass facade, the small maker space is placed next to the windows, a vestibula generates a space where people can stop and get involved.

Figure 20 20 a, MOB street scene; 20 b, c, d, activities inside and outside the coworking space

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BETHAUS Location: Gracia

UB -

ACE

NG

NG TERRACE

SIESTA CLUB TERRACE

NG -

EVENT SPACE

COWORKING

ENT -

COWORKING

work community

COWORKING TERRACE

local community

CAFE’ - EVENT PATIO work community

residential building

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residential building

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vestibule reception

GROUND FLOOR

street

GROUND FLOOR

living room

patio

vestibule reception

living room

patio

FIRST FLOOR

local community

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“Betahause is more then a coworking, it’s a happy family living in an amazing house”.

The six-story building host 210 coworkers, 50% of them are foreigners.

There are not activities shared with the neighbourhood, the weekly events are attended exclusively by the members.

SPATIAL ORGANIZATION: Informal work: the workers tend to spend the whole day inside the building (common kitchen, patio, space for events), it reinforces the sense of community, that becomes extremely close to the neighbourhood.

Transparency: The coworking space doesn’t have a recognisable character from the street, the glazed wall in the atrium gives a view of the common area from the street, but it doesn’t engage the local people.

Verticality: the close staircases and the small landing are not a ‘friendly’ place for social interactions, as a consequence the interaction between people working on different floors occur only in the common areas. These areas are set at the ends of the building (ground TERRACE

SIESTA CLUB TERRACE EVENT SPACE

COWORKING COWORKING

COWORKING TERRACE

CAFE’ - EVENT PATIO

Figure 21 , formal and informal work inside the coworking space work community

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local community

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VALKIRIA

location: Poblenou

local community

street

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FIRST FLOOR

side walk

FIRST FLOOR

parking

GROUNDGROUND FLOOR FLOOR

vestibule

FIRST FLOOR coworking space

vestibule

space for events/projects exibitions, conferences

FIRST FLOOR coworking space

reception public restaurant

GROUND FLOOR space for events/projects GROUND FLOOR exibitions, conferences

reception public restaurant side walk

local community

New creative class in Poblenou

work community

side walk

parking

street

parking

SPATIAL ORGANIZATION: Informal work: most of the informal activities occur on the ground floor, the restaurant is open to the neighbourhood.

Transparency and verticality: the space for events have a central position, it’s visible from the street and from the workspaces on the first floor.

Figure 22 , 22 a, street scene of Valkiria 22 b,c,d formal and informal work inside the coworking space

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BCNEWT

location: Poblenou

work community

local community

co-working

side walk

parking

two-way street

parking

side walk

officies

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FRONT / ENTRANCE TRANSITION

New creative class in Poblenou

The small coworking space is on the sixth floor of an industrial building. It shows clearly how these emergent creative communities are scattered and isolated in the neighbourhood.

According to the manager, a sense of satisfaction between members and the authenticity of the work environment are the priorities in a coworking space that aspire to be genuine and innovative. The new investors have a different point of view, they look at the market logics and the economic implications. This kind of mentality is not compatible with our community.

Although the small size gives a strong identity and authenticity to the work community, it doesn’t have the space for enlarge the collaboration with new members.

SPATIAL ORGANIZATION: because of the reduced space, the priority is been given to a common area shared by the members.

Figure 23, 22 a, street scene of the building where Bcnewt is located 22 b,c formal and informal work inside the coworking space

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ZAMNESS location: Poblenou the coworking space is located on the fourth floor of an existing office building, it works mainly as shared offices, few events are organized during the year without involving the neighborhood.

SPATIAL ORGANIZATION: the space generates a low degree of collaboration between members. The collective space is separated by two small glass boxes (meeting rooms). For this reason the collective space lack of centrality.

Figure 23, 23 a, street scene of the building where Zamness is located 23 b,c formal work inside the coworking space

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BAU–Centro Universitario de Diseno location: Poblenou

The institute is set inside an existing warehouse. It cut the block creating a connection between the two block sides.

It shows a way to re-think the permeability of the blocks, a sequence of collective spaces generate different level of social interaction between students (network of learning).

Transparency: a glazed wall separate the street from the laboratories where the students conduct manual activities.

The different classes look toward a common space on the ground floor that works also as circulation.

Figure 26, collective space inside the school

Figure 25, ground floor BAU

ground floor

first floor

distribution formal - informal activities.

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RRACE ENTS

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SINERGIA SINERGIA

- COWORKING IN MONTEVIDEO

location: Montevideo (Uruguay)

Sinergia is one of the biggest and SINERGIA most innovative coworking space in Uruguay.

- COWORKING IN MONTEVIDEO SINERGIA - COWORKING IN MONT

SINERGIA - COWORKING IN MONTEVIDEO The building is organized in order to enhance the social cohesion between members.IN MONTEVIDEO SINERGIA - COWORKING Transparency: the collective space has a central position on the ground floor, and it’s visible form the second floor where the most private working spaces are set around the courtyard.

TERRACE EVENTS

2

COWORKING SPACE

1

COWORKING SPACE

TERRACE EVENTS

TERRACE EVENTS

TERRACE EVENTS

2

0

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PLAYROOM LIVINGROOM

OWORKING ACE

-1

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COWORKING SPACE COWORKING SPACE COWORKING SPACE

OWORKING ACE

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AYROOM INGROOM

1 1 1 COWORKING SPACE

COWORKING SPACE

PLAYROOM LIVINGROOM -1

COWORKING SPACE

0 0 0 PLAYROOM LIVINGROOM

PLAYROOM LIVINGROOM

-1 -1 Figure 27, formal informal work inside the coworking space

-1

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WE WORK:

location: Soho west, New York Wework is the biggest company of coworking spaces in the world, the network of shared workspaces has locations in 19 United States cities and other 11 countries.

The ten-story monolithic building provide space for events and different projects shared by the members.

The spatial organization creates a sense of alienation in the workers, the space for informal work is centralized in big common area that is not able to generate different levels of social interaction. The individual workplaces are reached through corridors, and it doesn’t facilitate communication among working groups.

Figure 28, street scene of the building where the coworking space is located Figure 29, second floor plan

second floor: offices

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INNOVATION CENTRE UC location: Santiago (Chile) Alejandro Aravena’s Innovation Centre UC project was built in 2014. The main question in this design process was how to create and transfer knowledge. The latter, it was discovered, can occur mainly in faceto-face encounters among people.

They decided to multiply the places where people can meet as much as possible.

Looking at the floor plan, the architects tried to design the work space giving different spaces for formal and informal activities that are, in theory, either individual or collective.

The work environment is set around a glazed core, creating a visual connection between people working on different floors.

Figure 30, inside and outside view of the Innovatice cente

third floor: offices

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COWORKING SPACE: SPATIAL ORGANIZATION the following considerations take in account not only the coworking spaces, but even the street scape research on site. The combination of these two investigations are lead me to define a model of coworking space that I consider compatible in the research area and it will help me to define my intervention site.

RELATION BETWEEN LOCAL AND WORK COMMUNITY:

INFORMAL WORK SPACE The transition front/back is realized by a sequence of collective space (informal work). This sequence starts from the sidewalk, followed by porches, vestibules, inner courtyards. It generates an intimacy gradient until the work space (formal work). The spaces can be activated by facilities shared with the neighbourhood (bar, restaurant) and thanks to temporary exhibition, projects, events.

FORMAL WORK SPACE: The gradient of collective spaces helps to keep away the work environment from the street, by controlling the level of transparency. A too direct interaction between the formal work and the public space would not enhance the efficiency.

On the other hand manual activities in fablab, can be exposed to the street and have a direct connection with the neighbourhood. The maker space become a tool to activate a learning process and to promote the coworking space.

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THE WORK COMMUNITY:

COLLECTIVE FORMAL WORK: This space is the centre of gravity in the coworking space.

INDIVIDUAL FORMAL WORK: The most intimate spaces for one or few people are set around the collective space. They are partially close. It’s important to keep a level of transparency with the rest of the work community. .

INFORMAL WORK, HORIZONTAL DISTRIBUTION: these spaces are set around the common work area , they create a gradient with the street and quite backs for the workers.

INFORMAL WORK, VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION The spaces for informal activities have to be placed at the ends of the building (ground floor – upper floors)

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MY VISION OF COWORKING IN POBLENOU

In my opinion the diffusion of the coworking phenomenon allows for the creation  of a new way of considering work, the city and the interaction between them.

Coworking can become a way of bringing people together. It can, what is more, become a kind of centre of attraction. Coworking is just one element of the whole. It is not in itself the final reason. It is a way to rally the community. Beyond the room layout,coworking is first an atmosphere, a spirit and even a lifestyle.

To appreciate this, I think it is important to understand the two fundamental aspects of coworking: the creation of a work community and the interaction with the neighborhood.

While seeking to reach these two purposes, it is not necessary to set aside a third aspect: the innovation process. This is the strong point of coworking; indeed, it is what makes it competitive at an economic level.

In the analysed case studios I have pointed out how in larger examples of coworking, such as the WeWork in New York, there is the risk of losing individuality and authenticity. A too interventionist and direct policy could have counter effects and adversely affect the organic development of the work community.

On the other hand, however, the drawback to small coworking is the difficulty in ensuring visibility.

In such cases they can lose the opportunity to cooperate in wider projects and with innovative and bigger firms. Furthermore, they risk losing the exchange of knowledge and interaction with external resources. This is the lock-in effect: frequent interaction and interdependence among insiders derive from the creation of rigid structures of relationships not open to the external.

(Capdevila, 2015, pp. 19) It is necessary to find a balance between these two models.

The solution can be to create a network of platforms. The platforms have to be located in adjacent spaces where different communities can learn from each other. The small size allows the different actors involved  to effectively communicate, share knowledge and cooperate

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without losing the original concept of coworking: autonomous and self-managed character of bottom-up communities. Authenticity, flexibility, and the ability to personalise the space and create a common identity are possible only if the human scale of the work environment is preserved.

Herman Hertzberger, who drew up plans for a new work space project in 1972 trying to “transform the office in a small village”, emphasised the aforementioned aspect. For Hertzberger “the members must have the feeling of being part of a working community without being lost in the crowd”.(va Meel, 2000, pp. 39).

As this process unfolds, this networks expand inside the urban texture and can ensure a good level of visibility. Coworking contributes to the local dynamics of knowledge creation and sharing and can contribute actively to the local processes of innovation, linking talented individuals and innovative communities and firms. (Capdevila, 2015, pp, 20).

These relationships are reflected in the participation in projects that promote innovation dynamics on an urban, not just local, scale.

Major visibility depends on the physical space occupied and also on the organisation of events.

Coworking host events that can represent “temporary clusters” where external actors can participate and share external knowledge make it possible to avoid the lock-in effect.

small scattered coworking spaces

alienating coworking space 80

New creative class in Poblenou

This solution allows for a new and more active relationship with the neighborhood case studies I have analysed.

This interaction is articulated in three issues: - Visibility: the simple fact that the network is visible from the street can activate a learning process and the engagement of the neighborhood.

- Sharing collective space and services - Education: the network organises events open to the community, but it also runs training courses in order to involve low-income workers.

For these reasons coworking can contribute to integrating citizenship in a collective innovation processes.

Coworking founder Alex Hillman believes that “space is the least important word in a coworking space� (Wink, 2013). In my vision of coworking, spatial organisation is crucial. It allows for the creation of a work community and an interaction with the neighborhood. Together, they can improve social cohesion on different levels.

The purpose is to change the urban texture. Through the sight of the building, it is possible to bring  a new different work conception and a new model of sustainable and creative city.

agglomeration of small coworking units 81

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my vision of coworking in Poblenou, different actors and sources 82

New creative class in Poblenou

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6.URBAN STRATEGY

Francesco Ogliengo

EXISTING SITUATION: THE RAILWAY

Like in most of the blocks the backyard is not used as a common area between the different productive spaces, nonetheless the uncovered railway, by crossing three blocks, generates an area that is not accessible but is extremely visible from the public street. This element emphasizes the cognitive distance and separation between the workspaces. Therefore the criticality of these urban blocks has led me to make an intervention here. On the bright side the railway gives a strong identity and a recognizible character to the neighbourhood, which could enhance the visibility and strength of my intervention.

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Figure 31, railway in Poblenou

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EXISTING SITUATION: THE INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS

4

1

4

1

3 2

4

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empty plots 7 5

unused industrial buildings (one two-story high)

7

restoratio /re-use existing structure

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rehabilitation and integration

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1) RESTORATION: industrial modernist building (1909)

2) RE-USE of the existing structure

3) INTEGRATION: the industrial building is occupied by two companies, their actvities can be integrated in my new intervention

4

4) EMPTY PLOT

1

5) DEMOLITION : unused industrial warehouses

5) REHABILITATION: the office building can be integrated in my new intervention Figure 32, street scene in the intervention area 89

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Francesco Ogliengo

22@BCN METROPOLITAN MASTERPLAN proposal in my intervention area

office buildings built during last 15 years proposed volumetry in my intervention area

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BLOCK 1

monofunctional office buildings

oversized inner courtyards, without direct sunlight

complete demolition of existing industrial buildings

BLOCK 2

the railway is still a barrier between the two block sides

buildings set back from the street

Figure 32, office buildigs in the area

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elevation in Joan d'Austria: exisiting situation - proposal

elevation in Zamora: exisiting situation - proposal

Figure 33, proposed masterplan in the area, planimetry and elevations

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OVERLAPPING OF DIFFERENT SCENARIOS

the existing situation

existing situation 22@ proposal

my vision

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my vision

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1)

2)

3)

4)

1) typical block in Poblenou 2) envisioned block with railway (same kind of alienation as the typical block).

3) The envisioned site shows spaces with opportunity (unused spaces) 4) Proposal of the 22@bcn Metropolitan Masterplan proposes a monofunctional use without engaging the neighbourhood.

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5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

5) From the study of the co-working, the importance of create a network of small working units where the involvement of the community and the authenticity of the space is brought into light.

6) The study of the streetscape shows that there is a need for porosity in the blocks in order to optimize the accessibility.

7) These two approaches result in a backbone of collective space that generates a network of productivity

for the users of the co-working but also the surrounding locals.

8) The same approach can be used as a prototype on a urban scale in order to create a

continuity in this urban fabric.

9) The architectural proposal defines the spatial quality of this backbone

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unaccessibile empty plots unused industrial buildings transition stree productive space intervention area transparency new courtyards permanent overlapping local/work community temporary public connection

existing buildings

existing transition front-back

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new transition front- back - front

permanent and temporary overlapping work/ local community

new intervention

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axonometric view of the urban intervention

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7. ARCHITECTURAL INTERVENTION

Francesco Ogliengo

Following the rules of the urban strategy, a specific site was chosen in order to test out the approach and translate into architecture by defining the qualities of the collective space.

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FROM A SEQUENCE OF COLLECTIVE SPACE TO THE PRODUCTIVE SPACE

The new intervention connects four different streetscapes, by bridging the railway.

The back of the existing industrial buildings, that was looking at the railway, becomes the core of the new network for the coworking spaces.

The edges of the building comunicate with the street. They activate a realtionship with the neighborhood by engaging the public environment. The gates lead to collective spaces and facilities shared by the workers and the inhabitants.

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a sequence of collective spaces connects the four entrances. The gates and the courtyards are the starting point of the architectural intervention.

To densify the area but at the same time not to lose the qualities of the collective space, a decision was made to build vertical but also to create a buffer zone (galleries and open staircases).

The productive spaces are the last step in the project that are generated by these sequence of collective spaces (the backbones of collectivity).

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plot surface: 4630 m2

B

public facilities: 1135 m

2

restaurant: 380 m2 sport: 420 m2 fablab: 185 m2 learning center: 410 m2

coworking space: 6320 m2 maker space: 690 m2 private facilties 735 m2 accomodations: 1960 m2 total built surface: 10835 m2

ground floor 0

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A

B

A

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A

B

B

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second floor 0

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20

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fourth floor 0

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SECTION AA

section AA

TERRACE

COWORKING SPACE

0

STREET

GATE

OPEN STAIRCASES

COURTYARD 1

GATE

COURTYARD 2

OPEN STAIRCASES

THE GALLERIES

SECTION BB

113 ACCOMODATION

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Francesco Ogliengo

SECTION AA

TERRACE

COWORKING SPACE

STREET

GATE

OPEN STAIRCASES

COURTYARD 1

GATE

COURTYARD 2

OPEN STAIRCASES

THE GALLERIES

SECTION BB

ACCOMODATION

COWORKING SPACE COWORKING SPACE

SECTION BB - OPEN DAY

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COURTYARD 2

BRIDGE LIBRARY

BAR BOOKSHARING

GATE

STREET

MAKER SPACE

COWORKING SPACE

STREET

GATE

OPEN STAIRCASES

COURTYARD 1

COURTYARD 2

OPEN STAIRCASES

GATE

New creative class in Poblenou

THE GALLERIES

SECTION BB

ACCOMODATION

COWORKING SPACE COWORKING SPACE

COURTYARD 2

BRIDGE LIBRARY

BAR BOOKSHARING

GATE

STREET

MAKER SPACE

section BB 0

510

SPACE FOR EVENTS, EXHIBITIONS, TEMPORARY PROJECTS

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STREET

STREET

SECTION BB - OPEN DAY

Francesco Ogliengo

THE GATE

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THE COURTYARD

The courtyard rethinks a Mediterranenan tradition in the working environment

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THE GALLERY

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THE BRIDGE

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Bridge's structure: construction process

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THE LIBRARY

0

1

2

bridge section

During the 'open day' the bridge becomes a space for temporary projects and exhibitions.

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THE CATALOGUE OF ELEMENTS The steel structure, the materiality and the greenery, ensure the quality of the project and will lend character and a sense of unity to the backbone of collective space.

The facade highlights the visual contrast between the light structure and the heavy program inside.

STRUCTURE

MATERIALIY

GREENERY 3m

5-6m

stairs

timber covering

malus evereste 5m

10- 12 m

corrugated metal sheet

honey locust trees

pergola

wire net

climbing plants

balconies

transparent - translucent material

bridge

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THE COWORKING UNIT

0

1

2

section CC, second, third floor

NETWORK OF of coworking spaces network

coworking unit

COWORKING UNIT

COWORKING SPACES

The coworking unit reflects in a smaller scale the same system of collective spaces and the same principle of circulation and transparency of the main courtyard.

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THE PROXIMITY AND THE VISUAL INTERACTION BETWEEN USERS

visual interaction between different users (outsiders, users of the maker space and offices) break the strict facade hierachy.

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THE NEW CREATIVE DISTRICT OF POBLENOU

The project shows a new model of sustainable and creative work environment that can change the way we live our city.

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DESIGN PROCESS: SKETCHES AND MODELS

First vision of one backbone of collective spaces, 5/3/2017.

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First vision of the bridge, 8/3/2017

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First vision of the transition street-courtyard, and the visual connection between work environment and street 8/3/2017

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First vision of the courtyard, 8/3/2017

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Urban strategy: volumetric model 1:1000

Architectural strategy: volumetric model 1:500

Architectural strategy: final model 1:200

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Architectural strategy: final model 1:200

Architectural strategy: final model 1:200

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8. PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

With the present research and project I had the chance to improve my point of view over sustainable architecture that focuses on the social aspect: as a future architect I believe that spatial quality is defined by the needs of specific locations and users.

Socially sustainable architecture aims not only to the creation of qualitative space but also to generate a positive change in people’s mindset.

Through the methodology of streetscape I had the chance to analyze in a systematic way the location, investigating the site does not only involve the production of maps and schemes from a detached, planimetric point of view but rather to really dig into the human interactions and behaviors.

Here the patterns of human behaviours, through interviews and first person experiencing of the human scale of urban spaces, are translated into the typical architectural/urbanistic representations of mapping.

The aim is to extract tangible data from the social environment, which is not a physical element as the ones that architecture normally investigates.

This kind of approach led me fluently towards the architectural choices: spatial arrangements are defined by the interpretations and experimentation of the social aspects found in the Poblenou.

Despite the challenges faced along the design and research process, knowing that the architectural choices were reflected on human behaviors it was easier to understand whether the intentions were appropriate or not.

Productivity and working spaces involve human interactions and livability issues that need to be addressed: from these assumptions came the belief that co-working spaces is a topic that strongly embraces the principles of social sustainability and yet it needs to be planned with care and insights of the social aspects.

In conclusion the ultimate goal of the project is not the placement of the program itself or the construction process but rather the contribution that the concept of co-working in the specificity of the Poblenou can give towards the perception and livability of collective spaces.

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presentation 14/3/2017

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank to my promotor Kris Scheerlink for his advices and guideliness, during my research and design process.

I would also like to thank to my family who always believed in me, and all my friends for their patience in times of discomfort.

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9. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Francesco Ogliengo

Alexander, C. (1977). A pattern language, towns buildings construction. New York: Oxford University Press.

Capdevila, I. (2015), Co-Working Space and the Localised Dynamics of Innovation in Barcelona.

International Journal of Innovation Management, 19 (3).

Habraken, N.J. (1998). The Structure of the Ordinary. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Moriset, B. (2013). Building new places of the creative economy. The rise of coworking spaces.

Avaible at https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00914075/document (accessed 7 Mai 2017).

Pacucci, L. (2010). Creare valore attraverso il progetto dello spazio collettivo dell’abitare.

Milano: Politecnico di Milano.

Rus, A., Orel, M. (2015). Coworking: a community of work. Ljubljana: Teorija in Praksa let. 52,6.

Scheerlinck, K. (2013). Collective Spaces Streetscape Territories Notebook. London: Blurb.

Scheerlinck, K. (2014). Raval Barcelona Streetscape Territories Notebook. London: Blurb.

Schuermann, M. (2014). Coworking space. A potent business model for plug’n play and indie workers. Berlin: Rocket Publishing.

Secchi, B., Aulenti, G. (1986). Progetto Bicocca. Milano: Electa.

Van Meel, J. (2000), The European Office. Rotterdam: Oio Publishers.

Van Meel, J., Martens, Y., & van Ree, H. J. (2010). Planning Office Spaces. A practical guide for managers and designers. London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Wink, C. (2013), Coworking space are communities that should learn from each other. Avaible at https://technical.ly/philly/2013/08/23/coworking/ (accessed 7 Mai 2017).

Woodcraft, S., Hackett, T., & Caistor-Arendar, L. (2011). Design for social sustainability: a framework for creating thriving new communities. London: Social Life.

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ONLINE "Matching Affordable Housing with Affordable Working", https://www.citylab.com/life/2015/06/ matching-affordable-housing-with-affordable-working/394790/, first access on 15/3/2017; "Coworking spaces are communities that should learn from each other [Event]", https:// technical.ly/philly/2013/08/23/coworking/, first access on 20/3/2017; "Inside A Growing Movement Of Coworking Spaces For Atypical Entrepreneurs" , https:// www.fastcompany.com/3059990/inside-a-growing-movement-of-co-working-spaces-foratypical-entrepreneurs, first access on 22/3/2017; "Co-working spaces and transparency: dissolving the frontiers", https://www.academia. edu/24281201/Co-working_spaces_and_transparency_dissolving_the_frontiers, first access on 4/4/2017

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10. IMAGE CREDITS Cover: sketches by Francesco Ogliengo Figure 1: My vision and first impression of Barcelona, 22/11/2016, by Francesco Ogliengo Figure 2: Fragmentation in Poblenou, 3/4/2017, , by Francesco Ogliengo Figure 3: the focus of my research, 3/4/2017, , by Francesco Ogliengo Figure 4 , view of Poblenou, https://22speranza.wordpress.com/03-pluralismo/ Figure 5 , 22@bcn plan, https://22speranza.wordpress.com/03-pluralismo/ Figure 6 , 22@bcn plan in my research area, https://22speranza.wordpress.com/03-pluralismo/ Figure 7 , Poblenou street scenes, transition front-back by Francesco Ogliengo Figure 8 , Poblenou street scenes, informal activities, by Francesco Ogliengo Figure 9, transition front-back inside an industrial building, by Francesco Ogliengo Figure 10, Coworking space ,https://www.bcnewt.com/ Figure 11, street scenes in Poblenou, and view inside Studio P52, Francesco Ogliengo Figure 12 , street scenes in Poblenou, by Francesco Ogliengo Figure 13 , street scenes in Poblenou, by Francesco Ogliengo Figure 14 , street scenes in Poblenou, by Francesco Ogliengo Figure 15 , street scenes in Poblenou, and view inside 'Talleres Europa' Figure 16, 2017 Global Coworking Survey, http://www.deskmag.com/en/background-of-the2017-global-coworking-survey9 Figure 17, 2017 Global Coworking Survey Figure 18, 2017 Global Coworking Survey Figure 19 , distribution coworking spaces in Barcelona, http://www.newpic.fr/newpicopendoc/ capdevila_aims2015_3393.pdf Figure 20: 20 a, MOB street scene, by Francesco Ogliengo 20 b, c, d, activities inside and outside the coworking space, http://www.mob-barcelona.com/ Figure 21 , formal and informal work inside the coworking space, https://www.betahaus.es/ space/ Figure 22 : 22 a, street scene of Valkiria, by Francesco Ogliengo 22 b,c,d formal and informal work inside the coworking space, http://www.valkiriahubspace. com/ Figure 23, 23 a, street scene of the building where Bcnewt is located, Google street view 23 b,c formal and informal work inside the coworking space, https://www.bcnewt.com/ Figure 24,

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24 a, street scene of the building where Zamness is located, Google Street view 24 b,c formal work inside the coworking space, http://zamness.com/ Figure 25, ground floor BAU, http://legacy.iaacblog.com/maa2011-2012-digitaltools/2011/12/ ecotect-assignment-2/ Figure 26, collective space inside the school Figure 27, formal informal work inside the coworking space, http://sinergiacowork.com/ montevideo/ Figure 28, street scene of the building where the coworking space is located, Google street view Figure 29, second floor plan, https://42floors.com/coworking/wework-soho-west/soho-west Figure 30, inside and outside the Innovatice cente , rhttp://www.archdaily.com/549152/ innovation-center-uc-anacleto-angelini-alejandro-aravena-elemental.

Figure 31, rails scene by Francesco Ogliengo Figure 32, street scene in my intervention area, by Francesco Ogliengo Figure 33, exisitng office buildigs in the area, by Francesco Ogliengo Figure 34, proposed masterplan in the area, planimetry and elevations Archive:Ecologia, Urbanisme i Mobilitat. Direcciรณ Serveis de Planejament Ajuntament de Barcelona. Diagonal 240, 3a, 08018 Barcelona Figure 35, all grafical content of chapter 6 and 7, by Francesco Ogliengo

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