Turó de la Rovira: “The Invisible Intervention”

The Turó de la Rovira peak, the highest point in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, has exceptional heritage value. Originally the site of an ancient Iberian settlement and agricultural zone it was used in modern times to combat aerial attacks by Fascist forces during the Spanish Civil War when it became the site of a Republican anti-aircraft gun emplacement to protect the city from the bombs. After the war the abandoned military installations on the hilltop were used by people who had come to the city as part of a massive wave of immigration to build a shanty town. The settlement was known as Els Canons (The Cannons) and consisted of about a hundred shacks housing many families.

Thanks to demands made by the residents of Turó de la Rovira, their living conditions were improved until they were eventually re-housed in new apartment blocks while the last shacks were demolished in 1992, leaving behind on the hilltop fragments of stairways, walls and tiled floors, which attracted the attention of vandals for many years. Finally, in 2009, it was decided to start work on the architectural project that has now brought about a re-landscaping of the site with the aims of making it accessible to the general public and highlighting its heritage and historic value as well as its privileged views over the city. The intervention was awarded the European Prize for Urban Public Space in 2012.

In the documentary La intervenció invisible (The Invisible Intervention) by Adrià Lahuerta and Carlota Coloma, the people involved in the project talk about the process of refurbishing the hilltop while testimonies from local residents offer an overview of the history of Turó de la Rovira.

The debate following the premiere of the documentary will be an occasion for considering the past, present and future of Turó de la Rovira and the way it has been inserted into the local neighbourhood and the city of Barcelona as a whole. Further themes to be discussed on this occasion are the preservation of historical memory, squatter settlements and the need for housing, the latter being a problem that was once supposedly resolved but which, with the economic crisis, has now returned more pressingly than ever.

7 p.m. Reception of rewards: Sponsors who have participated in the crowdfunding by giving their financial support to the project can collect their rewards.

7.30 p.m. Screening:

La intervenció invisible (31 min.), Adrià Lahuerta and Carlota Coloma, Catalonia, 2014. English subtitles.

8.00 p.m. Debate: “Past, Present and Future of Turó de la Rovira” with the participation of Adrià Lahuerta and Carlota Coloma, authors of the documentary La intervenció invisible; Josep Llinàs, architect and university professor, President of the Jury of the European Prize for Urban Public Space, 2012; and Paco González, a former long-term resident of the neighbourhood and activist in the local movement to improve living conditions in the squatter settlement on Turó de la Rovira. Presented by David Castillo, journalist and writer.