Northern Edge

This body of work is about urban edges. It looks into the urban sprawl along the River Besós valley - northern edge of Barcelona - to observe the symbiosis between the uniqueness of its inhabitants and the quite dystopic landscape of the valley. The River Besós, together with the River Llobregat, is one of the two freshwater borders of Barcelona. They both mark the geographical limits of the Spanish metropolis. Its landscape throughout the urbanisation of the city has become an in-between-city itself: a blend of farmlands, industrialised infrastructures, and villages. Residents haunt both the banks. Some of them live there in either fixed or nomad houses. Others just walk through the thick vegetation of the estuary, standing on the edge and looking to the opposite side daydreaming. The River Besos also plays as one of the main water resources of the city but its banks stand heavily marked by the Catalan industrial legacy. Over the last years, a renaissance has been slowing taking place thanks to environmental plans that aim to reestablish the valley original ecosystem.