CHALLENGE
What does it really mean to be efficient?
Efficiency is often confused with optimizing existing systems, without questioning whether those systems actually make sense. Using more modern technology does not necessarily mean using it better.
A simple example clearly illustrates this:
Would it make sense to fly an aircraft designed for 300 passengers with only 5 people on board?
The Barris Nord Pavilion thus becomes a metaphor for many contemporary public facilities and infrastructures: oversized spaces that are presented as “efficient” through isolated improvements—such as LED lighting or solar panels—yet continue to operate under a logic that is not aligned with their real use.
Therefore, the challenge goes beyond technology: the model itself must be rethought. Only through honest approaches and a real willingness to break with systemic inertia is it possible to genuinely address climate change and create a viable future.
IDEA
We believe the time has come to act with common sense.
Applied to the specific case of the Barris Nord Pavilion in Lleida, the key question is both direct and uncomfortable:
Does it make sense for a pavilion designed for 5,000 people to be regularly used by only 30?
Our idea does not seek to mask the problem, but rather to put it clearly on the table. Being efficient is not about making minor adjustments to the container, but about aligning scale, use and consumption with reality.
Only in this way is it possible to reduce environmental impact, avoid structurally inefficient investments and create sustainable models over time.
STRATEGY
QWERTY · Less is more
The strategy begins with a conscious decision: to take advantage of an ideas competition focused on efficiency in order to change the narrative. Rather than proposing yet another technical improvement, the aim is to raise awareness and demonstrate that a different way of doing things is possible.
The strategic pillars are clear:
- The Barris Nord Pavilion as a metaphor for the current climate crisis and the lack of truly transformative structural proposals.
- Adapting infrastructures to real needs by reducing scale, consumption and expenditure, which benefits both the environment and public finances.
- Understanding efficiency as a systemic decision, not as a set of superficial actions such as changing lighting systems or adding solar panels, but as a redefinition of the use, size and function of space.
Everything remains to be done; however, everything is still possible if we dare to explore new paths and imagine models capable of generating long-term future and shared abundance.
RESULT
The proposal was formalized in the document PROPOSTA-021_BARRIS_NORD, submitted to the ideas competition as a conceptual and strategic alternative to the usual solutions related to energy efficiency.
Beyond the competition itself, the project functions as a tool for reflection on how we rethink public facilities in a context of climate emergency, questioning models that perpetuate the problem instead of solving it.