Ruderal: The Vallcarca Housing Cooperative

Ruderal was founded in the Vallcarca neighborhood as a housing cooperative dedicated to promoting the right to housing and combating real estate speculation. It is a right-of-use (cessió d’ús) cooperative project that emerged from the new urban master plan for the historic district, co-designed by the architecture cooperatives Voltes and Celobert.

The building moves away from the rigidity of massive housing blocks to replicate the traditional “village-neighborhood” (barri-poble) fabric. It features a permeable design that connects the urban streetscape with the adjacent community gardens through two distinct facade designs.

At Gabinet del Color, we developed a chromatic proposal that reinforces this eco-conscious identity, harmonizing the color scheme with the main architectural features (dark green aluminum window frames and light pine blinds). The selection of a light shade for the main wall surfaces optimizes solar radiation management, boosting the building’s energy efficiency (A+ rating). Meanwhile, the green tones applied to the baseboard visually integrate the structure with the central park. Every hue in our chromatic proposal was carefully selected to blend seamlessly with the surrounding vegetation, utilizing materials and textures designed for a minimal environmental footprint and low maintenance.