Batlleiroig Arquitectura

Battleiroig is a multidisciplinary firm celebrated for its innovative and sustainable designs that have made a significant impact on the field of landscape architecture both within Spain and Europe. Founded in Barcelona, Spain, by Enric Batlle and Joan Roig in 1981, the firm has gained international recognition for its progressive approach to design. They have been at the forefront of the ‘Catalan wave’ of the nineties, pushed by Oriol Bohigas’ plans for The Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, which made spectacular never seen before projects possible. The ‘wave’ included names such as EMBT, RCR Arquitectes, Arriola & Fiol arquitectes, Manuel Ruisánchez, MICHELE & MIQUEL, Bet Figueras, Beth Gali, Teresa Galí-Izard, later EMF and others. Already in that time, the work of Batlleiroig helped bring contemporary design attitudes from the region into an international focus and also influence.

The editors of Landezine recognize Batlleiroig’s multidisciplinary approach that has been continuously bringing projects that challenge their briefs, find smart answers and materialize in aesthetically convincing creations fit to their time and context. There is an evident omnipresent quality in the design language of their work – a mix of subtle but still joyful play and, at the same time, calm sobriety that often supports witty solutions.

The project for Garraf Landfill, also awarded LILA 2023 in Revisited Projects category, was based on a landscape idea that served as the main guideline for this very technical transformation. The Forest Path cemetery questions the very structure of symbolic particularities of landscape in terms of our relationship to life and death and proposes a shift of the spiritual to the immediate nature. The Scenic Path Along Igualada’s Old Gypsum Mines was awarded LILA 2019 in Public Category for its unique blend of subtle design that explores existing landscape qualities and a new layer of playfulness that gives the project a new frame. In Esplugues de Llobregat’s modification of the General Metropolitan Plan, they questioned how a productive landscape could be made fit for public use in an innovative way.

The editors of Landezine appreciate the office’s fitness to conquer complex problems and come up with solutions that can move visitors rather than entertain them.

Garraf is a long-term infrastructure project that transformed a vast amount of waste into agricultural land in its final step. The jury appreciated the role of design in this complex infrastructural landscape rehabilitation project since the entire programme for the closure of the Garraf Landfill was based on an initial landscape idea. The result is an interesting morphology that tells the story of its past with a beautiful surface fit for future use.

A beautiful and extremely subtle design, Scenic Path is a gesture drawn so as to offer a discovery of ‘what is already there’ and ‘what has been there’ a long time ago. A clever, precise design of a path, with a sophisticated geometrical set of shifting positions, where platforms, seats or walls organize the views far away, and with the same movements build a very strong sense of place. The materiality of the realization continues and reinforces the design with a great coherence, forming this precise architectonic play with a restrained number of materials. A presence arises – a collision of space and time – and you experience a landscape at the same time very old and very new.

The Forest Path is part of a larger, existing cemetery, where Batlleiroig designed one of their first projects as early as 1985. A shift in people’s relation to burial traditions and issues of space brought the need for a new, more nature-friendly means of burial practice.

Batlleiroig designed a Krainer wall structure, ready to host plants and wooden urns that contain the ashes. With time, the wooden logs and the urns will disintegrate, leaving behind a slope overgrown by plants that will further change through the passing of seasons. This reference to the cycle of life effectively acts as the memorial whilst providing more efficient use of land, infrastructure and other resources.

Besides the progressive and innovative solution, the jury was also charmed by the elegant design of the Forest Path and its forest-edge ambience.

Nestled between the Pyrenees and the Costa Brava, the comarca of Osona is a land of contrasts and quiet beauty. With its fertile plains, winding rivers, and surrounding mountains, the region offers an extraordinary tapestry of natural landscapes and cultural heritage. This rich environment is the foundation for the “Osona Viewpoints Network” (Xarxa de Miradors […]

The Rambla Girada in Vilafranca del Penedès was constructed in the late 1990s as the central axis of a new neighborhood. It was conceived as a classic thoroughfare primarily intended for pedestrian strolls. The circulation of private vehicles and the arrangement of parking spaces were situated close to the facades of the buildings, leaving a […]

The Impluvium of Esplugues de Llobregat emerges with the aim of establishing a model for responsible water management and acting as a catalyst for biodiversity in a strategically located area, at a major road junction providing access to the city. The chronic traffic congestion at Rotonda Elisabeth Eidenbenz, compounded by the development of the Finestrelles […]

The Biolake project unfolds within the expansive canvas of Igualada’s Central Park. It stands as a strategic enclave, solidifying Igualada’s Green Ring and its verdant infrastructure, composed of meticulously crafted open spaces designed with sustainability at their core, both within the city and its outskirts. Nestled within this green sanctuary, amidst the bustling urban fabric, […]

The Boca de la Mina promenade is located in the northwest of the city of Reus, specifically in the north of the railway line and the train station. The walk has been and is an important recreational space for the inhabitants of the city. Its arrangement in relation to the nucleus, the morphology, the gentle […]

The Insect Hotel is an artificial shelter and a hibernating place for insects and arachnids made with natural materials. It consists of a divided structure of several sections with nesting facilities. Vulnerable species (such as the solitary bee) can settle into it to develop and reproduce in a comfortable and secure space. The Hotel is […]