Microclimatic Corridor is a proposal for the transformation of Carrer de Rocafort into a climate shelter for non-human urban life. Responding to rising temperatures, biodiversity decline, and the urban heat island effect in Barcelona, the project extends the ecological and microclimatic performance of Jardins de Montserrat into the surrounding street network
Climate change as a driver for biodiversity loss
The trend is clear: cities are getting hotter while biodiversity is rapidly declining. The diagram shows both rising temperature anomalies and a sharp decrease in wildlife populations over time. Butterflies are especially affected — not only are species disappearing, but the number of individual butterflies has dropped by 57% since 1995. Their decline began even earlier than the broader wildlife decline, making them an important indicator species for environmental stress.
RESEARCH QUESTION
How can streets be transformed into a climate shelter that supports the survival and movement of climate-sensitive species such as butterflies?
What is a climate shelter?
A climate shelter is a spatial intervention designed to protect living beings from extreme climatic conditions—particularly heat—through shade, vegetation, ventilation, water retention, and other cooling strategies. Climate shelters can range from small urban installations to large-scale ecological and mobility infrastructures.
For butterflies, the gradient moves from hot open areas with heavy sun exposure, through a moderate transitional zone with dense multi-layer canopy acting as buffer, to a cooler core: permeable surfaces, shrubs and understory layers creating a microhabitat and microclimate, with minimal man-made shelter elements added to tree bark for hibernation support.
Stakeholders and Conflicting Needs
Three stakeholders structure the design problem:
The Butterfly requires host plants for larval feeding, permeable soil, undisturbed ground, and flowering nectar plants for adult feeding. Residents need shade and cooling, accessibility, safe crossings, and green space. The Ajuntament de Barcelona operates within an agenda that includes emergency lane access, maintenance schedules, and the Superilla policy framework.
The tensions between these stakeholders are the design drivers. Resident foot traffic and municipal maintenance regimes disturb butterfly life cycles. The butterfly’s need for microclimate co-benefit and habitat continuity aligns with the city’s climate strategy. The Superilla framework resolves the mobility conflict. Community use validates public investment.
Site: Jardins de Montserrat and Adjacent Streets
The site covers Jardins de Montserrat and the adjacent street network including Carrer de Rocafort, Carrer d’Entença, Carrer del Rosselló, Carrer de Còrsega, Carrer de Calabria, and Carrer de Provença. It sits within the Barcelona Superilles framework, which reorganizes urban mobility to reclaim street space for pedestrians, greenery, and ecological function.
The site currently hosts a horticulture centre, youth centre, recycling centre, children’s park, dog park, and cycle paths. From a butterfly’s perspective, the diagnosis was blunt: there are flowers here, but no place to lay eggs. Too much sun, too much exposure. A place to pass through, not to belong.
