Final stretch of the Cateb film forum cycle to find solutions to the housing access problem

The interest in housing does not end with the diagnosis of the problem. There is also a will and interest to find possible answers. This is being demonstrated by the cycle of film forums organized by the Association of Technical Architecture of Barcelona (Cateb), which has filled the theater and cinema hall of the Espai Texas with great public attendance in the first five sessions. The video podcasts "Tocar sostre" (Hitting the ceiling), which the newspaper ARA publishes after each event, have also sparked interest and accumulated hundreds of downloads in the first chapters already published.

The cycle is now entering the final stretch with three sessions open to the public. On November 16, the discussion will be about new housing models; on November 23, about the relationship between housing and health, and on November 30, about the environment and housing. Tickets, priced at 3 euros, can be purchased at www.festivalartec.cat and include the debate, the screening, and a final snack.

Films and speakers

Each session combines a conversation with three speakers with the screening of a film or documentary related to the topic. Among other speakers, the meeting on November 16th will feature Albert Esteve, director of the Center for Demographic Studies. On November 23rd, the conversation will include Jaume Raventós, director of the Hospital del Mar. The final session, on November 30th, will have as a guest Pere Renom, biologist and science communicator.

The screenings planned for this final stretch are "Kollektivet", by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg, on November 16th; "The Human Scale", by Andreas M. Dalsgaard, on November 23rd, and "Snowpiercer", by South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, which will close the series on November 30th.

Open the debate

Throughout the cycle, issues such as the rental problem, housing understood as a social right or as an investment product, the difficulties of access to a home, and the impact of digital platforms on the sector have been addressed. Experts such as Carme Trilla, Josep Oliver, Joana Amat and Camino Quiroga have participated; the anthropologist Manuel Delgado; the popularizers Pol Casellas and Genís Roca; the writer Llucia Ramis, and representatives of entities such as Sostre Cívic and the Tenants' Union. The sessions are organized with the collaboration of institutions and entities linked to each field, such as the Association of Property Administrators, the Coordinator of Social Housing Foundations, the Construmat Fair and the alumni association of the UPC.

With this initiative, Cateb wants to take the conversation beyond the strictly professional sphere and bring the debate on how to respond to the demand for more and better housing to the public. "Housing is too important to be restricted to the professionals who work in it. With this series, we want to open the doors of the Association and create a space for conversation with the public, listen to other perspectives, and contribute to the debate on how we want the spaces where we live to be," states Celestí Ventura, president of Cateb.