Mapping places with great impact and potential to transform neighborhoods in Europe

by Gerard Decathalogne, Marta Esteban, Marta Homs, Paula Juyol, Julia Torras, Ferran Montserrat,Mariona Vidal, Mar Peirató, Merel Ottervanger, Nomi Veldt, Cipriana Tabacaru, Manwai Wong, Lynn Mai, Maria Amaro da Costa, Madalena Pita, Alexandre Roliz, Pedro Worm El Lloc de la Dona. It is a meeting and social action space located in the heart of the Raval neighbourhood, which has been giving support to women pr actising prostitution or in the process of social reintegration for more than 30 years. This foundation promotes processes of personal autonomy and social and labour…

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The experience of culture, art and space in european neighborhoods

by María Cantón, Laura Kaiser, Anna Torrabadella, Júlia Soler, Cristina Ye, Abdullah Ebrahimi, Nuwaira Agyiri, Bianca da Silva Santos, Nita Dedinca, Akife Gülçebi, Mariana Teixeira, Mariana Bernardo, Tomás Ferreira, Catarina Duarte, Maria Carolina   Although El Raval is not the most known neighborhood in Barcelona, it is the most unique one with its iconic places and multiculturalism. We had the opportunity to discover that the cultural diversity is a link between the neighborhoods of Lisbon and Amsterdam, especially the culture expressed outdoors, like the street art of graffities. We have…

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Hospitality cultures: making people feel they belong

by Carles Alomar,  Nicole Díaz , Júlia López , Xavier Nogueira , Anna Español , Cristina Tugores , Julene García , Victor Muñoz , Xavier Roig , Daniela Costa , Beatriz Candeias , Margarida Bravo , Maria Inês Santana , Mariana Bentes, Alexandros Ellinas , Philippos Chrysostomou , Daniel Farkas, Julian Olieman  and Ivana Ivanovska. Casa do artista is a Support Association for Artists, with no political or religious ties. Associated with it there is a senior residence, for former artists, the Raul Solnado’s Gallery and the Armando Cortez Theater.…

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Creativity neighborhoods

by PaolaAmat, AndreaMerlo, NataliaSerra, AngelaTafalla, Andreia Mendes, Artur Albuquerque, Diana Dias, Gonçalo Cabaço, Eva Verstegen, Daniella Klap, Rahime Ilayda Bilici, Luca Rosa and Lotte Blinderman. Amsterdam, Lisbon and Barcelona have so many points in common, such as the creativity, the artistic diversity and the concept of community. Heesterveld is a district in Amsterdam Zuidoost, the district is divided into living and working space for residents. Within this creative community there are people from all kinds of disciplines, from movie directors to song writers. It is a lively area, filled with…

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Raval is special and the world has to know it!

María Cantón together with Alomar,C.; Cantón,M.; Decathalogne, G.; Díaz,N.; Esteban,M.; Homs,M.; Juyol,P.; Kaiser,L.; López,J.; Nogueira,X.; Soler,J.; Torrabadella,A.; Torras,J.; Ye Dai,C. Blanquerna students (Barcelona) Group 34 of Blanquerna has done an exploration to know the other side of our neighbourhood: El Raval. Our walk began at ‘Carrer Tallers’, a street next to Blanquerna-Ramon Llull University, with lots of vintage and music stores. We have continued towards ‘Institut de Cultura de Barcelona’,  to recognise certain cultural aspects of Barcelona that differ from other cities in Europe. The next stop was ‘Antiga Escola…

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EL RAVAL: The Peripheric Suburb at the Center of the City

El Raval is known for its dense population, but also for being one of the most controversial and yet interesting neighborhoods. Very few people want to give a second chance to this neighborhood due to its bad image, nevertheless there are a lot of different and unique iconic places to discover in it. Its potential of transformation, its people and the polyphonic style of life are some words that best define El Raval. In this article we want to highlight the best and the worst of El Raval. Even though…

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Leisure vs. insecurity

by Rebeca Iglesias, Claudia Alonso, Jan Bifolco and Xavier Gil “El Raval”, the Barcelona district with the most contrasts and, is also, without a doubt, the most stigmatized. According to the media it is, above all, synonymous with insecurity and crime. As shown in the table elaborated by the city district, 57% of the news from Raval are about insecurity, doubling the percentage of crimes really happening 30%. Some residents claim that “el Raval” is losing its essence due to this stigmatization and the little physical and economic effort of…

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Raval Cultural

Raval Cultural was born in June 2013 with the aim of promoting and asserting the great cultural and heritage richness that exists in the neighborhood of Raval and in order to identify the image of the neighborhood with what it really encompasses, enhance the joint and transversal action in the cultural field and strengthen the link between the residents of Raval and culture. The achievement of these objectives has been raised through three fields: to promote cultural action and activities, to encourage urban actions around the facilities and to promote…

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Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona

The Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona, ​​also known by its acronym MACBA, is dedicated to the exhibition of contemporary art and cultural practices. It is located in the Raval district of the city of Barcelona, ​​very close to the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona. It was declared a museum of national interest by the Generalitat de Catalunya. Since 2015 it has been directed by Ferran Barenblit. The Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA) opened its doors on November 28, 1995. The installation of the museum in Plaça…

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Gran Teatre del Liceu

The Gran Teatre del Liceu, known as the Liceu, is an opera house located on Barcelona’s Rambla as part of the El Raval district. It was inaugurated in 1847 with great public repercussions. The Theater has a capacity of 3,500 spectators and at that time the stage had the most modern technology and facilities. In 1861, 14 years after its opening, a fire destroyed the hall and the stage. The Theater fell into disrepair and was rebuilt in just one year. In the year 62, the doors were reopened with…

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