Lucía Ferrater, partner at OAB, has just received the Premi Ciutat de Barcelona alongside Carlos Ferrater and Jesús Coll for the new building of the fish market in Port Vell. A project that, after 14 years of development, not only modernizes the fishing infrastructure but also opens the port to the city and redefines its relationship with public space.
In this interview, she explains how this transformation came about and her vision on architecture and teaching.
--- How have those 14 years of the new fish market building project been?
--- Architectural projects stretch out a lot over time: from the client's commission to the approval of licenses, passing through the development of the preliminary project, the basic project, and the executive project ---in which other professionals collaborate---. Then, during construction, times can be extended for different reasons. Furthermore, the Port of Barcelona belongs to Puertos del Estado and, perhaps, for years it was not a priority, until Barcelona won the America's Cup headquarters. The new building is located in the center of Port Vell and, at that time, it was the only new construction building for that great city event, as the rest were ephemeral constructions for the bases of the boats of the different teams. The most important thing, in reality, is that the building is not only for the activity of buying and selling fish, but it is a facility that creates public space.
--- What activities are carried out in the new fish market?
--- It is a building developed in three blocks and two high-rise floors. On one hand, on the ground floor, it is a very compact building where the fish auction takes place. It is organized into two different rooms with separate accesses that respond to the day's catches: in the morning, bluefish arrives, purse-seine fishing; in the afternoon, whitefish and seafood arrive, trawling. On the other hand, the first floor is made permeable from east to west, and a large accessible ramp allows starting a route from the outside to enter the building to view the auction. From there, from this upper level about 4.5 meters above the dock level, the entire Port Vell can be observed. This floor, intended for the public, will also house a restaurant, currently in the bidding process, offering local fish.
--- What elements of the place were taken into account to design the new fish market?
--- The building is voluminous: 80 meters by 30 meters on each side, by 10 meters high, but it plays with a double scale thanks to the walkway that wraps around the access ramp to give a more domestic and maritime front to the city. The image of the dock has completely changed with the fish market in another position and the access open to all citizens. A passage was created ---which for now has temporary furniture, arranged by the port, because a reform project must be developed--- that allows reaching the old Clock Tower and from where the accessible route to the public begins. This tower was Barcelona's first lighthouse, built in 1772 and converted into a clock in 1904. Furthermore, when Ildefons Cerdà designed the Eixample grid, he started from the tower to trace the Meridiana and Paral·lel avenues.
--- How do the construction materials contribute to the image of the building and the place?
--- We thought of local materials, resistant to the passage of time and climate, and easy to maintain and clean. The structure is a combination of concrete pillars with prefabricated slabs. The facade is made up of aluminum panels ---a durable material that does not rust---, cast in a mold designed by us, so each piece has its own personality. It is an industrial, artisanal, and zero-kilometer work ---it was made in a foundry in Sant Joan Despí, nine kilometers from the center of Barcelona---. Inside, the concrete block is left exposed, with a simple coat of paint. On the roofs, in addition, photovoltaic solar panels were installed that provide enough energy to cool the building and for other structures of the same port.
--- What is OAB?
--- Office of Architecture in Barcelona was born in 2006, from the architecture studio that my father, Carlos Ferrater, already had since 1971. I was the first to join as a partner, then Xavier Martí and, finally, Borja Ferrater. We proposed to my father to collaborate with him from within, with the same intention of working with a reduced structure, for excellence and critically with everything and among ourselves.
--- And your time as an architecture professor?
--- I have been a professor for about 14 years. Currently, I am a housing projects professor at ETSALS (La Salle) and I have been a professor at ETSAB and UIC. It is a job that satisfies me considerably. Transmitting knowledge and, at the same time, receiving impulses and concerns from students opens my mind in a different way, helps me to reflect, to be more critical and to be able to reach the concept when explaining a project.