The transformation of Can Batlló is inseparable from the opening of the former industrial compound to the city. Since its foundation in 1878, the site has evolved alongside the neighbourhood of La Bordeta, accumulating successive layers of industrial production, decline and, more recently, civic initiative. The conversion of “Building 7” into the new Municipal School of Media marks a decisive step in this broader process of urban regeneration.

Rather than treating the existing building as a neutral container, the project builds on its original industrial logic. The intervention preserves the structural order of the building and organises the new programme according to its spatial characteristics. Smaller and more repetitive spaces occupy the dense concrete frame of the ground floor, while the large-span timber trusses above accommodate studios, performance spaces and collective activities. The project adapts to the building instead of adapting the building to the programme.

New interventions are conceived as independent architectural elements inserted within the existing structure. A series of freestanding timber volumes organise classrooms, administration and specialist facilities while preserving the continuity and legibility of the industrial space. Their reversible construction allows the building to evolve over time without compromising its original fabric.

The rehabilitation reveals rather than conceals the building's history. Existing walls, repaired openings and new additions remain clearly distinguishable, allowing different periods of construction to coexist within a single architectural narrative. The project does not reconstruct a lost past; it extends the life of an existing structure by giving it the capacity to accommodate new forms of learning.

More than the conversion of an industrial warehouse, the project establishes a new relationship between Can Batlló and the city, demonstrating how continuity, rather than replacement, can become the basis for urban transformation.