Housing in Barcelona

Abstract

Over the last three decades Josep Maria Montaner played a key role as an educator in the prestigious Barcelona School of Architecture. Together with Zaida Muxí he initiated the Housing Laboratory of the Twenty-First Century, an advanced master’s programme held at that institution for more than a decade. In 2015, Montaner moved from the world of academia to politics, starting his tenure as housing councillor in the cabinet of Ada Colau, herself a housing activist who became mayor of Barcelona. In this interview, conducted by David H. Falagán, Montaner highlights the crucial importance of aligning housing policies, housing design, and citizens’ participation as a strategy to combat the housing crisis triggered by the dominant neoliberal system.