What is the main attraction of working as a collective, or should I say cooperative? Cristina: “A cooperative is basically a democratic structure that people share to achieve a certain goal. Historically, in our neighbourhood, it started mainly with food and welfare. Nowadays it is also linked to social economy, and is based on shared values regarding ecology, diversity, and inclusion. ‘Cooperativism’ first appeared in Barcelona at the end of the 19th Century and it was very strong in the thirties, until the dictatorship. Then it revived in the seventies after the death of Franco. We have tried to learn from these experiences and to take advantage of the tools that have been developed since then.”

After the seventies, cooperatives like those came under pressure or disappeared altogether, due to the ubiquitous neoliberalism and its emphasis on individuality. What do you do to prevent your own initiatives from fading away?

Carles: “In Spain, most of the alternative movements arose because the State was weak. When it recovered its grip, many activists became civil servants. Health care and education have advanced a lot since then. Unfortunately, the government has since gone the other way as far as housing is concerned. That is why we build alternatives like the La Borda social housing complex, and we try to learn how to do it better with every new project. To give it more substance and more permanency, we also lobby in political circles and we propose changes in municipal law.”

Cristina: “Cooperatives, which are often organized through neighbourhood associations, represent the community. So they are soundly based democratically. It is important that the municipality recognizes this. For cooperatives like these to be successful, it is also essential to reach a balance between private and public, to establish a joint control. This is because both sides may tend to move away from the original goals, for instance when a new government changes its policy or the members of the cooperative get more individualistic and try to sell their apartments for profit. This means that there should be regulations, for example against selling within in a certain period, or to guarantee leases of public land for fifty years.”

Could you work anywhere in Spain, or does your method imply that you are restricted to do this kind of projects for cooperatives in Barcelona?

Cristina: “We could work anywhere in Spain, and we do indeed collaborate with people from other cities. But it is true that you need to know the context in order to do the kind of work the way we do. Therefore we operate mainly as advisors for communities and municipalities from other areas in Spain, and communicate a lot with them, meet them regularly, or organize workshops.”

Who are the people in those cooperatives that you deal with?

Carles: “The projects we work on now are initiated by the communities themselves. They choose us as their architects or advisors. Sometimes they already have a site, and sometimes they have to lease a piece of land from the municipality or even buy it. If the project is to be on public ground, then the government sets the conditions. But there are certain restrictions, for instance about a maximum income, or how long the people concerned have lived in Barcelona. The community has the right to decide who is going to live there. What we now try to do is to make these projects more accessible to everyone. People who want to participate often have to put down a deposit, but that is a barrier for those who have been unable to save enough money for the purpose. Another barrier is cultural: you need to have some understanding of what a cooperative or social economy is, and to share its values. Migrants who have arrived recently don’t have the right contacts or the right knowledge of what is possible. Therefore we try to make life easier for them.” Cristina: “If you have no idea of the project, you would never ask to take part in it. A cooperative consists of people who know one another from a cooperative movement or a social organization. That leads automatically to a kind of homogeneity: most of the inhabitants in the La Borda neighbourhood are white Europeans, but about twenty percent of the population of the area are from an immigrant background, mostly from Latin America and Morocco. In the La Balma social housing complex, which we finished last summer, one of the apartments is designated for former foster children, who aren't supported anymore by the government. And in La Borda we discuss how we can bring in more diversity when an apartment becomes available, for instance by cooperating with an NGO to house refugees. There is a lot of work to do, and I think it is also time-consuming.”