Placa de Fernando de los Rios
As we can see from the rich immigratory history, industrial Barcelona had attracted massive numbers of workers during the mid 1900’s. The shantytowns were already part of the urban landscape. But, there was little attention paid to the housing problem and the lack of other public resources for growing populations. Another problem was that the construction sector had industrialized marginally slower than other sectors. Rent prices were stagnant, and as a result, owners had less incentive to rent houses. All of these factors ultimately led to a shortage of popular housing. The only possible solution to all that chaos was to create and encourage the construction of housing blocks at affordable prices for new workers. These districts were meant to house more people in minimum square footage. Unfortunately, they were constructed with a severe lack of facilities, and the poor conditions of the lands where they were located had all kinds of constructive and urban deficiencies; everything had been done in a hurry and nobody was checking if the quality requirements were met. Barracks style housing in Barcelona tripled between 1914 and 1922 and went from a capacity of 1,200 to 3,600 people. The influx of inhabitants was also escalated after The Somorrostro, a barrack neighbourhood in Barconoletta and Ciutat Vella, disappeared in 1966 and the transfer of the inhabitants to houses of the Work of the Union of the Home to different areas in the city. These buildings constructed in the second half of the 1900s are a reminder of the displacement of these people but also of the progressively better lifestyle that came f the urban development of the area.
Here you can see, located between the Rambla de Gui-poo-scua and Gran Vía, one of the notorious existing barracks and the largest still remaining in the neighbourhood. The Fernando de los Ríos building, nick-named La Pau. Following a number of disputes with the neighborhoods of the Besòs and the Maresme, this third neighborhood of barrack buildings was built by the Work of the Labor Union. The block of La Pau opened with the accelerated growth of the area and in full force of the last modification of the plan. The polygon of La Pau was part of the campaign to wash the image of the Work of the Union. However, this project almost from the first day, raised the anger of its inhabitants.
