Eulogy of the Porous City
Research as part of the exhibition Plou prou?
This research is being carried out as part of the exhibition Plou Prou?, an initiative organised by Cierto Estudio, h3o architects and Metrònom at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, as part of the Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture programme. The exhibition invites reflection on the relationship between water, architecture and the city in a context marked by climate change, encouraging us to rethink water management models and the role of ecological infrastructure in building more resilient cities.
Developed by LANDLAB, a landscape laboratory, this research forms part of a line of work on regenerative urbanism, green-blue infrastructure and water-sensitive cities. Drawing on various studies carried out for Barcelona City Council on the integration of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) into urban planning, the article reflects on the evolution of water management models in Mediterranean cities and highlights the need to move towards a new paradigm in which urban space is no longer viewed as a surface designed to drain water, but rather as an infrastructure capable of infiltrating, retaining and managing the hydrological cycle as an essential part of its ecological and climatic functioning.