La Carbonería, or Casa Tarragó, is an 1860s apartment building that was taken up by the Okupa Movement from 2004 to 2008, when it was painted on to produce two works of urban art. The 2014 eviction of the squatters was big news and the building became a graphic and political icon of Barcelona. Considered the oldest building in Ildefons Cerdà’s Eixample, it was put on City Hall’s heritage list.

In order to comply with heritage-protection rules, the courtyard’s facade had to be returned to its original state, with large windows. The project transferred the stairwell from inside the building out to the courtyard, and together with floating walkways and the new metal party wall, it formed a three-dimensional community space.

The zigzagging footbridges are held up by intersecting horizontal beams, achieving a structure that gives more freedom of lines in a limited space. Most of what was already there was preserved. The building’s original frame was maintained as much as possible, and the layout of the dwellings emphasized the central wall. Some of the graffiti have been kept on, thus incorporating recent marks into the historical legacy of the building.