Casa Bloc: Social Housing Project in Spain

Abstract

The Casa Bloc is a residential building designed by Josep Lluís Sert, Josep Torres Clavé and Joan Baptista Subirana, opened in 1936 in the Sant Andreu the city of Barcelona, Spain.  All the Architects were working in (the Catalan Group of Architects). It is a Re-creation of the le Corbusier proposal for residential housing, formulated in 1922 for an urban area with a density of 300 inhabitants per hectare. The Casa Bloc project, aimed at social housing, the design was drawn as a large building with two hundred dwellings for workers’ families in the industrial field because many of them were homeless at that time and they still lived in shacks, generally in very poor conditions. but The Spanish Civil War suspend the project of the Casa Bloc for three years. Later, the building was used not only for workers but also for other nations. So that the main purpose of the project and its social and cultural function was wasted. because through the time many changes entered the project. Casa Bloc, Apartment 1/11 is a member of the Iconic Houses, the international network connecting architecturally significant houses from the 20^th Century that are opened to the public. Housing policy is governed by the Spanish Housing Ministry with the ‘autonomous regions and their municipalities interpreting and implementing policies at a more local level. A right to housing is guaranteed by the Spanish constitution:  All Spaniards have the right to enjoy decent and adequate housing. The public authorities shall promote the necessary conditions and establish appropriate rules to uphold this right.