Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad

Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad 

Pineda Monedero

Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé

ARCHITECTS
Pineda Monedero

COLLABORATOR
Jaime Prous Architects

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Alex Pineda, Antón Monedero

PHOTOGRAPHS
Borja Ballbé

AREA
40 M²

YEAR
2023

LOCATION
Barcelona, Spain

CATEGORY
Apartments, Extension

Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé
Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé

Text description provided by architect.

On a rooftop in the Barceloneta neighborhood, there is a 20 sqm substandard housing with a terrace twice the size of the interior.

Its new owner reflects the changes of gentrification and globalization in Barcelona: he is a digital nomad and will only use the house for seasonal stays, mainly in summer.

Adapting this former badalot into a home requires insulating and protecting from the sun's radiation.

Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé
Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé
Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé

We propose a made-to-measure, light, and mechanized device that, like a machine, regulates the sun.

Ten wooden blinds, the same as those that have been used for centuries, are placed on rollers on the roof.

Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé
Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé

They slide along guides and close the house into a single shed, transforming the terraces into pergolas.

The references are obvious and draw from the nearby Umbracle designed in 1883 by Josep Fontseré in the Ciutadella park, but also from the technological fantasies proposed by Archigram in the 1960s.

Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé
Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé

All of this is to confront a very contemporary reality, which is the need to adapt to the climate crisis the planet is suffering.

Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé
Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé


Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé
Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé
Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé
Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé
Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
© Borja Ballbé


Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad
Summer Capsule for a Digital Nomad