Exhibition by students of the Master in Data Design within the framework of the Weeks of Architecture festival

Barcelona has experienced a shift in recent years. Public streets that were once a signature of neighborly Mediterranean life have become a space of tension. The number of restaurant terraces has increased, and many residents feel that we have lost the balance between private and public spaces. Barcelona gave up 17,000 m2 of its public space to restaurant terraces between 2019 and 2023.

Our next move determines Barcelona’s balance between public and private. What do we desire Mediterranean street life to be? The Barcelona Restaurants Guild believes that terraces add vibrance to the city as well as economic prosperity. Residents, meanwhile, endure a level of noise and obstacles that feel unlivable. Residents have a growing feeling that business interests trump their need for livable neighborhood streets.

In this context, the exhibition Tic-Tac Terrace is born as a part of the programme of Barcelona’s “Weeks of Architecture 2024” festival, organised by Barcelona City Council and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe. It is a project developed with the students of the Master in Data Design at Elisava within the course “Data for the Common Good” conceived by architect and exhibition curator Olga Subirós, and this year, with the invaluable collaboration and expertise of Gerald Kogler, digital cartographer, and Gemma Villegas, graphic designer.

At the Master in Data Design, we work with the latest practices in research, data analysis, visualization, and storytelling where tools are created to help our societies in the current scenario ecological and social emergency.

Which streets can be the model of our vision for the future of our city? How can we contribute with cooperation and respect to democratic decisions? The Tic-TacTerrace project answers these questions while bringing together data and citizen voices at this critical moment, contributing to the public debate in the hope that we can create a future Barcelona that matches our dreams for the city.

Students: Amber Lee Fawson (USA), Kate Kagioglidis (Germany), Kaashvi Kothari (India), Paulina Mondragón (Colombia), Stephanie Shotorbani (USA), Demetrio Larizza (Italy), Claudia Chiang (Chile), Anna Vidal (Spain).