Crusch Alba / Gus Wüstemann Architects

Save this picture!

+ 26

Text description provided by the architects. The project is our flat in Barcelona in the Gotico area, in the center of the historic part of Barcelona. A challenge was the very heterogenic floor plan, which was interrupted by various light patios. The other issue is little daylight in the old town of Barcelona, as the sun and the heat were considered rather a burden in the old times. There is one major façade facing the street Banys Nous, with big windows and balconies. It was clear that we would have a big living space in this area. For the connection, organization (circulation) and lighting up the back part of the apartment we had to come up with an invention.

The invention was to cross two programs: the kitchen and the bathroom, two brightly light up white spaces, forming a white cross. The white cross we put between those medieval walls and created a bright center in the middle of these fragment spaces and light patios. The crusch alba (white cross) is a crossing of two programs, there is no circulation, no matter where, you are either in the kitchen or in the bathroom. The rest of the space, the walls and ceilings are left in its original state: raw stone walls, wall paintings and raw plaster finishes.