Supporting the Transition

Supporting the Transition

At La Casa Integral, we are passionate about projects that seek to create new models for how we live in this world. La Fàbrica de la Transició is one of them.

For several weeks now, we have been working with this housing cooperative—comprising about 20 families—to apply Regenerative Solutions in the redesign of the building that will house them.

La Fàbrica de la Transició is clearly committed to being an inspiring project in various fields that are in urgent need of transformation. These areas include housing, energy and food sovereignty, climate-responsible construction, and the organization and management of groups from a horizontal, sociocratic, and collaborative perspective.

Another area of vital importance that is being addressed is the role that a project of this kind plays in its own municipality or nearby community.

Permaculture

Our consulting work in this case involves contributing and developing ideas based on permaculture. We examine the building’s internal layout, passive and active climate control, the use of biocompatible materials, and the management of both stormwater and wastewater.

Since this is a renovation project involving a building of great historical and architectural value—rather than a new construction—it gives rise to this major paradox that we face almost daily in transformation initiatives:

Is it worth making that extra effort to transform what already exists—honoring the past while building a future with different needs?

Is the drain on human energy and the additional economic cost involved in renovating architecture—which was originally created in a specific context—to adapt it to a reality marked by a scarcity of resources and materials, energy decline, and climate instability… “cost-effective”?

From a Cartesian, numerical, capitalist perspective, the answer is clearly NO, but we can no longer—and should no longer—adopt that perspective.

Building a new culture by changing our perspective is neither easy nor quick… but it is absolutely necessary.

The various ecosystem indicators all point to the same sense of urgency.

A new perspective on the world we live in.

Developing strategies that maintain or sustain the status quo is no longer enough.

Restoration and regeneration are essential.

The Social Aspect of Design

At La Casa Integral, we use permaculture as our primary design tool to develop the projects we’re asked to undertake. This also involves utilizing “soft” tools, such as group facilitation and collaborative work dynamics —both in person and remotely—to support complex projects like La Fàbrica de la Transició.

Thinking about how families (by the way, there’s still room for a few more if you’re looking for high-quality “co-living”) will use the coworking space, the laundry facilities, or the private family and community areas, as well as the needs of raising children and more… We’re passionate about filtering all of this through a degrowth lens—one that’s deeply ecological and regenerative. We also feel fortunate to be working with the technical team at Estudio Garreta Arquitectes (we’re working directly on the plans alongside the team of architects led by Saül Garreta) to find the best solutions.

Combining tunnels with a watermill design to provide climate control for a 5-story building—these are the kinds of challenges we love.

Let’s hope that more and more “Transition Factories” will emerge to inspire us to transform what already exists. At La Casa Integral, we’ll put our minds, hearts, and hands to work to support them.