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MAS Context Spring Talks 2021

Lacol: Cooperative Ecosystems

February 25, 2021 at 12PM

Lecture by architect and educator Cristina Gamboa of Barcelona-based Lacol. Response by Gabriel Cira and Quilian Riano, part of the Coop Network Group of The Architecture Lobby.

Contributors

Cooperative Ecosystems

The recognition of key moments of the collective history of Barcelona is essential to understand the current growth of the cooperative movement and the social and solidarity economy. Nowadays, networks of infrastructures (production, energy, culture, housing, care, economy…) have challenged the pre-established protocols of urban transformation, starting with the role of the architect and the political dimension of the discipline. This lecture brings the learnings, experiences, and contradictions from a cooperative architecture in-the-making.

Gabriel Cira and Quilian Riano, part of the Coop Network Group of The Architecture Lobby, acted as respondents and shared the work the collective is doing on the transformative potential of cooperatives for the practice of architecture and for broader society.

Suggested readings

George Kafka, “Sustainable building, sustainable living: La Borda, Barcelona by Lacol,” Architects’ Journal, June 23, 2020.

Lacol cop, “Cooperativa de Vivienda La Borda,” T18 Magazine, 33/34 Winter 2020, 130-149.

Stavrides Stavros, “Common Space: The City as Commons,” (London: Zed Books, 2016).

Silvia Federici, “Revolution at Point Zero, Housework, Reproduction and Feminist Struggle,” (San Francisco: PM Press, 2012).

Ethel Baraona Pohl, “Cooperative Housing as a Means More Than an End,” MAS Context, February 18, 2021.

Ethel Baraona Pohl, “Coming together: La Comunal in Barcelona, Spain by Lacol,” The Architectural Review, February 24, 2021.

Gabriel Cira, Peggy Deamer, Ashton Hamm, James Heard, Will Martin, Quilian Riano, Shawhin Roudbari, and Christian Rutherford, “Template for a Cooperative Network of Small Architecture Practices,” MAS Context, August 12, 2020.

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La Borda Cooperative Housing, Barcelona. © Lluc Miralles. Courtesy of Lacol.

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La Borda Cooperative Housing, Barcelona. © IMHAB. Courtesy of Lacol.

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La Comunal Cooperative Space, Barcelona. © Lluc Miralles. Courtesy of Lacol.

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La Comunal Cooperative Space, Barcelona. © Lluc Miralles. Courtesy of Lacol.

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Coòpolis BCN. Phase 0, Barcelona. © Lacol.

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Coòpolis BCN. Phase 0, Barcelona. © Lacol.

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Participatory process about La Model prison, Barcelona. © Lacol.

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Contributor Bios

Contributor

Bio

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Cristina Gamboa

Cristina Gamboa is a chartered architect and co-founder of Lacol, a cooperative of architects established in 2014 in Barcelona. Lacol’s practice embraces architecture, urbanism, housing policies, and participatory processes, blurring the limits of the different disciplines to define a cross-sectional and participative approach. At Lacol, she focuses on researching participative approaches to design and developing cooperative housing and housing policies, tested in ongoing projects. Cristina currently teaches at the Architectural Association in London and ETSAB in Barcelona.

Gabriel Cira

Gabriel Cira is a licensed architect and historic preservation consultant based in Massachusetts. He is a professor in the History of Art at MassArt, where he teaches the longstanding Architecture of Boston course; he also teaches community-engaged practice courses at Boston Architecture College, and has also taught at MIT and the University of Tokyo. Gabriel's work and research focuses on historic preservation, vernacular/popular histories, ecological resilience, accessibility and preservation, and infrastructure history.

Quilian Riano

Quilian Riano is the Assistant Dean of Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture, working across the school’s architecture, landscape, and planning programs to develop and manage programmatic and pedagogical projects. Prior to this, he served as the Associate Director of Kent State University's Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC), where he provided strategy and design coordination for the CUDC’s urban design, applied research, publication and academic activities. Quilian has worked in and with public institutions, such as New York City’s Department of Design and Construction as a lead design strategist and the National Park Service as an urban design consultant. Quilian is also the founder and lead designer of DSGN AGNC, a design studio exploring new forms of political design, processes and engagements through architecture, urbanism, landscapes and art. Quilian is an initiator and core member of Dark Matter University.