Carles Oliver Barceló – So heavy! – gostujoče predavanje

Vljudno vabljeni na gostujoče predavanje Carlesa Olivera Barcela z naslovom:

SO HEAVY!

Global CO2 emissions have risen from 5 gigatonnes (Gt) to 37 Gt per year over the past century, of which the construction sector is responsible for approximately 37%. The Earth and the oceans can absorb only 19 Gt of CO2 annually, which corresponds to the available global carbon budget. And we spend twice we have.

The EU’s binding climate neutrality target for 2050 requires emissions to be reduced by 55% by 2030 and by 92% by 2050. If the carbon budget were to limit the number of dwellings we can build – as the financial budget has done until now –, what needs to be done to reduce these values in architectural design?

In the Balearic Islands, an example has been developed collectively, consisting of configuring habitability based on the ‘map of local resources’, which includes many factors such as social (knowledge & buildings traditions, typologies, skills, available labor, etc.), atmospheric (sun, rain, wind, etc.), or the local low-carbon materials that constitute the vernacular architecture, the cultural heritage, and the landscape of each territory, like stone or earth. In addition to materials derived from the optimisation of industrial processes, such as urban mining.

Not only have simple compression structures proved to offer greater durability and minimal embodied CO₂ emissions, they also provide the necessary inertia and mass to withstand extreme heatwaves, particularly in Mediterranean climates.

Carles Oliver Barceló (Felanitx), an architect from the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB) and a master builder by professional necessity.
Since 2009, he is member of the Balearic Social Housing Institute (IBAVI), where he directed the climate change adaptation project ‘Life Reusing Posidonia’ in Formentera, 2021 LIFE Award for Best Environmental Project by the European Commission. From 2019 to 2023 he has been responsible for the IBAVI Technical Department.
He has co-authored other awarded experimental housing projects, and refurbishment projects. This work has been widely published and exhibited.