Lògiques i espais projectuals d'una metròpoli, Barcelona 1976-1992

Between 1976 and 1992 the organisation of the metropolis has been affected by a series of structural changes that have transformed the relationship between the central city and the metropolitan rings. The change in content of the «geographical and morphological territories», of the «structuring elements» and the «arterial elements» as well as of the «undefined spaces» has given rise to an open regional system in which both settlement of the areas between municipal centres and diffuse growth within the region have occurred. This new situation has made necessary a reorientation of the logics of the projects undertaken. Firstly, less emphasis must be laid on closed solutions and more on methodological procedures, such as the logics of the project, the discourse and the process. Secondly, new conceptual apparatus and new planning resources are required to explore a form that is neither urban nor rural. New spaces will emerge on a metropolitan scale: the «non-local spaces», which lack clear physical materialisation and should be conceived of as an arena for new projects; the «identified spaces» –the geographical, morphological and structural elements of the region–; the «expectant or latent spaces», which constitute the setting for the new metropolitan architecture.