03 · Urban Installations
The first major exhibition inside the restored 1888 Hivernacle — and, by half a million visits in 269 days, the most visited urban agriculture exhibition in the world.
In 2024, Barcelona's historic Hivernacle — built for the 1888 Universal Exhibition in Parc de la Ciutadella — reopened to the public with Màquina Climàtica. The exhibition explains the greenhouse effect that sustains life on Earth, the human activity now disrupting it, and greenhouses' emerging role as spaces for sustainable, local food production. Curated by architect Mariona Benedito, it is a collaboration between IAAC, Barcelona Regional and ICTA-UAB's Sostenipra research group. Barcelona's metropolitan area uses only 9% of its 636 km² for agriculture, and local food production has dropped 77% since 1965, even as the city holds an estimated 1,764 hectares of potential green roof space. Students of IAAC's Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings & Biocities (MAEBB) responded with a modular vertical growing shelf, urban models of rooftop agriculture in the Eixample and Sant Martí districts, and a table and chairs — all built from 0km timber felled in Collserola Park, milled and kiln-dried at Valldaura Labs, and tracked from stump to shelf with a color-coded traceability system. Automated irrigation, coconut-fiber substrate and tuned LED lighting, developed with ICTA-UAB and Bures Innova, let the growing wall run through its 269-day run largely unattended. "It has undoubtedly been the most visited urban agriculture exhibition in the world, surpassing half a million visits in 269 days," said Xavier Gabarrell, head of the Sostenipra research group and UAB's vice-rector for Campus and Sustainability. The exhibition was selected for the FAD Awards 2025 in the Ephemeral Interventions category.
Sourcing and processing the 0km timber, from felled log to finished furniture and shelving.
PDF Report — Greenhouses of Europe → · ICTA-UAB / Sostenipra — FAD Awards 2025 selection →
