HABITAN was formed in 2006 by a group of young architects from Barcelona that share the same attitude and understanding towards design and architecture. Their objective is to share resources, ideas and experiences and each one of us forms the team that is more appropriate for each project depending on subject, expertise and availability. Permanent members of HABITAN are Elena Hachuel, Yoel Karaso, Cecilia Tham and Marc Tomas.
When Cecilia Tham and Yoel Karaso of Habitan Architects bought their first-floor apartment in an 1894 block of the Fort Pienc neighborhood of Barcelona in 2005, they knew they were taking a risk. Casa Alí Bei was a bargain because it is afectado (“affected”)—–that is, the land is zoned for redevelopment. A baby (Hanna) on the way, the possibility of being evicted, and a tight budget necessitated a canny renovation strategy, yet one that still honored the dazzling turn-of-the-century tile work and ornate moldings. A stone’s throw from Jean Nouvel’s Torre Agbar, the apartment, like the neighborhood, has been reborn as a patchwork of old and new. Tham tells us the story.
