Intervention: supporting on building a greenhouse

Spending a week building a greenhouse at Modul Parc Matacavalls with the Contorno Urbano community and Pla Integral Les Planes - Blocs Florida was a humbling and enriching experience. From the first day, we began by sorting and cutting materials for the primary structure, an activity that quickly grew into a shared rhythm, shaped by the flow of people coming and going.

The project itself wasn’t mine, it was initiated by an architecture collective based in Madrid Zuloark with extensive experience in participatory design and community-based construction. Working alongside them was incredibly insightful. I observed how they facilitated the build in a way that welcomed contributions, encouraged shared responsibility, and respected local rhythms. It wasn’t just about erecting a structure, but cultivating a process rooted in trust and openness. For me, it was a powerful lesson in what it means to design with people rather than for them.

My role as a designer became that of a supporter and learner, absorbing the technical and human dimensions of collective building. I saw how community members brought invaluable hands-on knowledge, practical ideas, and problem-solving intuition, often shaped by years of lived experience. These interactions made visible the core of my research: ethnocognition, how making carries embedded cultural understanding and identity. Inclusion, in this context, didn’t require a framework or institutional definition, it happened through doing, sharing, and being present.

The week ended with a communal meal organized by the organization, where everyone, builders, neighbors, visitors, came together to eat, talk, and reflect. Sitting there, listening to stories of the neighborhood, I felt the meaning of participatory practice in its purest form: not only about the object built, but the relationships formed through building it.

This experience deepened my belief that co-making is a social process of inclusion, not just production. It reaffirmed that participatory design is not about aesthetics or efficiency, but about recognition, trust, and continuity. In spaces like this, making becomes a language, one that bridges people, culture, and place.