Selected,

bg003Home in Mitre

Location

Barcelona

Year

2015-2016

Size

145 sqm

Client

Private Commission

Photo

José Hevia

The architecture

The project consists of remaking a home in a 1970’s apartment in Barcelona. The former spaces were based on program requirements resulting in a series of small rooms and corridors with predefined functions. Those spaces were shaped by non-load bearing walls given its ‘properly modern‘ free plan. However, columns, beams and slabs were concealed within the internal partitions as shameful bones.

The aim of the project was to make the apartment again (remake it), with significant setting and character changes. This would be achieved two-fold: by unveiling the hidden qualities of the 70’s architecture and by defining a new series of suggestive settings.

The project endows the former idea of free plan, but exposes it ‘as found’ leaving its (‘modern’) steel columns and beams freestanding with their rough welds, as well as uncovering the (traditional) gentle ceiling vaults; enhancing very specific qualities of the construction means of those 1970’s in Barcelona. This way an ‘infrastructural space’ is defined, as a permanent envelope in which smaller and temporary interventions will arrange ‘inhabitable settings’. A series of timber pieces are displayed within that envelope stressing the divorce between space and structure. Their shape, size and material qualities suggest places to be lived-in, from the sheltered interior of a panelled room to the gathering central space of the house.

The story

This had been their place for the last 30 years. They used to live here with their children, though it’s been few years since the youngest one left. They were living alone with many empty small rooms still laid out as sons’ bedrooms. It was the typical flat from Sant Gervasi: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, flat ceilings, decent reception room with timber flooring, long corridors and separate maid-area with kitchen, bedroom, lavatory and service entrance. He enjoys cooking, but that dark kitchen was never thought for him to cook. The apartment was double-orientated: to the street (south) with large façade and generous windows and to the rear garden (north), however the internal maze of corridors and rooms prevented any sense of orientation and natural light to go through. They needed to remake their place.

They recently got retired and spend more time at home. The space now crosses diagonally the house bringing the sunlight from one end to the other. He can see the street from the kitchen. She enjoys the unexpected walkways along the façade and around the large timber cabinets. The house feels much broader. The sight finds no end. They have a small panelled guest room for their grandchildren. There is another space where they have a desk and a sofa bed. They now appreciate the beauty of the triangular shape of the space, they understand the sequence of smaller and larger settings that their life occupies; they have a sense of orientation, a sense of place.

Awards

AJAC award
Gold Award Best Architects 18
Selection Gran Premio Enor 2017

Published in

MARU issue 179, feb 2017

Web

AFASIA, 9 nov 2016
HIC, 15 nov 2016
DIVISARE Homepage, 16 nov 2016
URDESIGN, 18 nov 2016
ARCHDAILY, 28 nov 2016
MUUUZ, 28 nov 2016
DIVISARE Newsletter, 29 nov 2016
DWELL, 29 nov 2016
THIS IS PAPER, 16 Dec 2016
GOOOOD, 23 Dec 2016

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Project

Bajet Giramé produces spatial concepts and built artefacts through the execution of architectural and urban projects, teaching, research, exhibitions and publications. Our work intends to unveil fresh and ambiguous relationships between infrastructure and appropriation, concreteness and uncertainty, vernacular and digital, ecology and poetics, uselessness and politics. We believe architecture shall perform as a catalyst of joyful unexpected possibilities.

Carrer Pujades 77-79, 8è 7a
08005 Barcelona
M +34 660 169 564
T +34 937 872 264
studio@bajetgirame.com
Instagram

News

Jun. 2024. Alfacs winner of the Premis FAD City & Landscape 2024 and Premios Hispalyt Sustainable!! ● Dec. 2023. We have won the international competition for the UIA Wold Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona with our curatorial proposal “Becoming. Architecture for a planet in transition”, together with Mariona Benedicto, Tomeu Ramis, Pau Sarquella, Carmen Torres y Chechu Zabala!! ● Jun. 2023. Our project ‘Montparnasse‘ is finalist in Premis FAD Internacional 2023!! ● May. 2023. “Blurring 2 Attics” has received the AJAC award in two categories: Interior Design and product design!!● Jun. 2022. 1st prize for our project “com a la seda” for 72 dwellings in El Prat (Barcelona)!! ● Apr. 2022. Our project Outdoor Pavilions has been selected for Premis FAD d’Arquitectura 2022!! ● Mar. 2022. Unveiled Affinities: Quaderns in Europe has been shortlisted for the Arquia/Próxima Award and Outdoor Pavilions, Les 3 Maries, Tenis Serramar and 3 Tables have been catalogued!! ● Lecture “Personal Landscapes” in ELISAVA.● Mar. 2022. Lecture “Personal Landscapes” in ELISAVA. ● Oct. 2021. Les 3 Maries in El País Semanal! ● Apr. 2021. Our project Les 3 Maries has been published in the Ara newspaper!!! ● Dec. 2020. Our lecture “Assembling” at ETSAB is online. ● Oct. 2020. “Unveiled Affinities: Quaderns in Europe” has received two AJAC awards, in the categories of Ephemeral Architecture and Architectural Dissemination!! ● Jul. 2019. We’ve won the competition to be directors of Quaderns d’Arquitectura i Urbanisme issue nº274! ● Previous news

Studio

Maria Giramé (1987) and Pau Bajet (1988) established Bajet Giramé in Barcelona in 2017, after a period of four years in which they both worked as architects for David Chipperfield Architects in London. The studio is a collaborative platform developing a wide range of projects together with a great diversity of partners, consultants, collaborators and clients. Current projects include the UIA Wold Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona curatorship, 72 social dwelling units in El Prat de Llobregat; 83 social dwelling units for elderly, an elderly residence and a district community centre for the Barcelona Council; a 2ha rural campsite near Ebre’s river delta; a 27 ha urban expansion for the municipality of Alcanar; as well as several retrofit projects for domestic and office spaces.

Team

(since 2017)
Maria Giramé
Pau Bajet
Anna Villarroya
Jennifer Méndez
Daniel Lascurain
Marina Miró
Sara López
Joel Prat
Zoí Casimiro
Jordi Mengual
Núria Ribas
Sarai Olabarrieta

We are currently not hiring, but we are welcome to receive portfolios for future openings. Please be aware that we are a small office, and we may need a long time to respond applications.

Clients

Institut Municipal de l’Habitatge de l’Ajuntament de Barcelona, Prat Espais, Evsa Group, Districte de Gràcia, Ajuntament de Barcelona, Mas de Manolo C.B., Alfacs Vacances S.L., and other private.

Research

Bajet Giramé combines professional practice with research and teaching in universities in Spain and the UK. We believe in the role of architectural design as a research tool to unveil new knowledge. Transdisciplinar and transscalar everyday spatial practices, that we carry out through housing commissions, exhibition curatorship, furniture design, teaching, essay writing, urban planning, or drawing on paper.

PhD ‘by design’

In 2023 Pau was PhD awarded without amendments by the The School of Art, Architecture and Design at London Metropolitan University. In 2015 Pau was awarded La Caixa Fellowship for Postgraduate Studies to fund a doctorate ‘by design,’ supervised by Florian Beigel and Philip Christou.

Teaching at ETSAB

Pau runs a Design Studio at the Housing & City unit at ETSAB (Barcelona School of Architecture, UPC), since 2017. This third-year course, consist of a project studio where undergraduate students develop urban and dwelling prototypes to enhance both civic life and domestic joyfulness.

Teaching at ETSALS

Maria is currently teaching a Design Studio at ETSALS (School of Architecture La Salle). This studio for first-year undergraduate students, is the first approach to architecture, exploring constructional thought, technique and representation awareness.

Teaching at MIAD

Pau is currently teaching, in partnership with architect Mireia Luzárraga, the Social Logics Workshop at MIAD (Master in Integrated Architectural Design). In this workshop students explore fresh prototypes for living in common, based on large-scale civic supports open to human and non-human intersubjective forms of appropriation.

Distinctions

2024. Winner FAD City and Landscape for ‘Alfacs’ ● 2024. Winner Hispalyt Sustainable Roof tile category for ‘Alfacs’ ● 2023. First prize. Curatorial proposal for the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona. Team: Pau Bajet, Mariona Benedicto, Maria Giramé, Tomeu Ramis, Pau Sarquella, Carmen Torres y Chechu Zabala ●2023. Awarded with XIII AJAC Interior design and Product Design for ‘Blurring 2 Attics’. COAC Barcelona ●2023. Finalist FAD International award 2023 for ‘Montparnasse’ ●2022. Selected FAD award 2022 forn ‘Outdoor Pavilions’ ● 2020. Awarded with XII AJAC Architectural Dissemination for the exhibition curatorship of ‘Unveiled Affinities’ exhibition. COAC Barcelona ● 2020. Awarded with XII AJAC Ephemeral Architecture for the exhibition design of ‘Unveiled Affinities’ exhibition. COAC Barcelona ● 2019. First prize. 85 social dwelling and public facilities in Gràcia neighborhood, Barcelona. Public competition by IMHAB ● 2019. First prize. Curatorship of ‘Quaderns d’Arquitectura i Urbanisme’ magazine’s issue nº274 ● 2019. Second prize. Curatorship of the 2020 Venice Biennale Catalan Pavilion by Institut Ramón Llull ● 2019. Second prize. 40 social dwelling in Masnou. Public competition by IMPSOL ● 2019. Second prize. 74 social dwelling in Montgat. Public competition by IMPSOL ● 2018. Awarded with XI AJAC Interior for ‘Home in Mitre’ project. COAC Barcelona ● 2018. Third prize. 24 social dwelling in Eivissa. Public competition by IBAVI ● 2018. Selected project 21 Premis Comarques de Girona for ‘Narcís infinit’ ephemeral project ● 2017. Gold award Best Architects 18 for ‘Home in Mitre’. Germany ● 2017. Selected project VII Gran Premio Enor for ‘Home in Mitre’, Spain ● 2013. Second prize. Europan 12 Nürnberg, Germany ● 2013. Shortlisted (5th position). Europan 12 Marly, Switzerland ● 2011. Second prize. Europan 11 Getaria, Spain ● 2009. Public’s choice prize. Eme3 Festival d’Arquitectura for ‘Favela: Under construction’ installation, CCCB in Barcelona, Spain.

Lectures

2020. Club Sandwich, 17.04.2020 ● 2020. La casa com a infraestructures, ETSAB 6.05.2020 ● 2019. Construmat IMHAB 17.05.2019 ● 2019. FHAR, Auditori MACBA 20.03.2019 ● 2019. COAC Quaderns 7.03.2019 ● 2019. COAC Quaderns 15.02.2019 ● 2018. Inexperiències AJAC a la model 27.10.18 ● 2018. Lecture at Londres Seminar Fifteen, three short talks about infraestructures 30.04.2018 ● 2014. Forum, Debate and Exhibition. Europan 12 Results Forum. Pavia 25.09-26.09 ● 2014. Lecture . “Europans 11 & 12”. ETSAB 03.03. ● 2012. Lecture and Exhibition. “Resultados Europan 11”. Europan-ESP. Círculo de Bellas Artes Madrid 02.11-18.11 ● 2012. “Retrospectiva Poble Sec”. ETSAB 17.10 ● 2012. Forum, Debate and Exhibition. Europan 11 Forum of Results. Wien 18.05-20.05 ● 2010. “Retrospectiva Meridiana”. UPC-ETSAB 15.09.

Exhibitions

2020. Exposició AJAC itinerant. La Salle, etc… ● 2019. Exposició i comissariat. “Unveiled Affinities: Quaderns in Europe”. COAC Barcelona 15.02-19.04 ● 2018. Exposició . “Premis AJAC XI”. COAC Barcelona 18.05-23.06 ● 2016. Exposició . Trienal d’Arquitectura de Lisboa. Article “Time Catalyst Forms” per Cartha Magazine III-Lisboa Paralela. 9.12-11.12 ● 2014. Forum, Debat i Exposició . Europan 12 Results Forum. Pavia 25.09-26.09 ● 2014. Exposició . Bienal “Archiprix International. World’s best graduation projects”. PFC representant de la ETSAB. Madrid 30.09 ● 2014. Exposició . “Resultados Europan 12”. Europan-ESP. COAC Barcelona 02.06-14.06. ● 2014. Exposició. “Ausstellung der Wettbewerbsergebnisse aus Deutschland”. Munich 15.05-12.06. ● 2014. Exposició . “Nürnberg awarded proposals Workshop”. Nürnberg 01.04-17.05 ● 2014. Exposició . “Europan 12 Deutschland Prizewinners”. Heidelberg 31.01-16.02 ● 2013. Exposició . CMA-EDU. PFC representant de la ETSAB. Crete 05.09-06.10 ● 2013. Exposició . “Best diplomas 2013”. UPC-ETSAB. Barcelona 10.06-26.07 ● 2013. Exposició . “Competitions in Architecture”. Belfast 04.04-27.04 ● 2012. Conferència i Exposició . “Resultados Europan 11”. Europan-ESP. Círculo de Bellas Artes Madrid 02.11-18.11 ● 2012. Forum, Debat i Exposició . Europan 11 Forum of Results. Wien 18.05-20.05 ● 2011. Conferència . “Retrospectiva L’H”. Habitatge i Ciutat. UPC-ETSAB 21.09 ● 2011. Conferència . “Retrospectiva Via Augusta”. Habitatge i Ciutat. UPC-ETSAB 09.02 ● 2010. Exposició . Selection of projects at UPC. UPC-ETSAB ● 2009. Instal·lació efímera. ‘Eme3’ Architectural Festival. CCCB.

Publications

2021. Publicació AJAC guanyadors AJAC XII ● 2019. Publicació AJAC guanyadors AJAC XI ● 2017. Projecte “Home in Mitre” a MARU Magazine. p.120-127. CA Publishing. Co., Ltd. Seoul, Korea. ISSN 1599-5461 ● 2014.Projecte E12 Nürnberg a “Adaptable City. Europan Deutschland” p.184-187. Berlin