Agora

Phon. [ æ g ο r ə ];

1. n. A reception and farewell space in the Zero Flat (ZF). In the evening, when arriving to the flat, the homeless are welcomed by volunteers and given a welcome pack. This pack consists of a mattress (SP), with a blanket incorporated, a privacy headboard and a hook lamp. The lamp is useful as personal lighting, allowing them to move around the flat without depending on general lighting. It is the reception and farewell space, but also a gathering point where social bonds can be forged, where volunteers ask the temporary inhabitants of the flat how their day was or how they are feeling. The design of the space takes inspiration from public spaces like squares, with elements that create places for conversation and meeting, like the drinking fountain and the bench. It shares the space with an office and is used both for drinking broth or coffee and meeting and staying.

2. n. An area for ​​education and raising awareness of the Arrels (Roots) Foundation, used for training volunteers that work with the foundation and meeting with visiting schoolchildren. It is also used as a work space.

Corner

Phon. [ k ɔ r n ə r ];

1. n. A space that one considers suitable for privacy. A place to rest, where one can take shelter in the middle of an open space.

2. n. The two elements in the welcome pack, the mattress (SP) and the hook light, create corners, intimate, cosy spaces within the collective space. This tool maintains and improves on the strategy that homeless people use on the street, and also allows them to freely use the elements in it to feel at home anywhere, anytime.

Glozero

Phon. [ g l o z ɪ r o ʊ ];

1. n. A system of organising words that arose in developing the Zero Flat project that explains how ideas and designs are interrelated. Many of the words seem commonplace but take on new connotations.

Hook light

Phon. [ h ʊ k l a ɪ t ];

1. n. An element found in the welcome pack, along with the Espe mattress.

2. n. An individual light that seeks to create a feeling of home. It aims to make each person self-sufficient, giving the homeless the freedom to decide when and where to use it. This invention allows the ZF inhabitants to manage general lighting schedules and resolve any conflicts that may arise as a result of many people living together in one space.

Espe Mattress “SP”

Phon. [ ˈ m æ t r ə s  ɛ s p ];

1. n. It includes the basic elements for sleeping: a mattress, blanket and pillow. With the hook lamp, the Espe mattress is part of the welcome pack. These two elements, plus the blinds that hang in the great room, give the homeless the chance to build their own corner freely and autonomously.

2. n. Its triangular shape, with the attached headboard, helps create privacy and maintain a certain visual distance from the people on either side, making this collective space more comfortable. It also works as a back-up for training and raising awareness during the daytime use of the flat.

3. n. Short for Esperanza, in tribute to the politicians who believe people sleeping on a mattress on the street are ugly.

Miquel Julià

Phon. [ m i k έ ɫ ʒ u l i á ];

1. n. The volunteer in charge of the Arrels Foundation street team, which walks the streets of Barcelona and contacts the people who live there to forge a bond of trust and friendship.

2. n. The starting point of the ZF project, with Ferran Busquets, the enthusiastic director of the Arrels Foundation. Thanks to him, we were first introduced to our users and the graphic genesis of the ideogram of the spider web and the staircase, representing the main challenges facing homeless people. He represents the essential mentoring provided by Arrels Foundation for the work team at ELISAVA’s Innovation Lab.

Pallet

Phon. [ p æ l ɪ t ];

1. n. A module that can be used to create a continuous structure throughout the flat. It flexible in use and able to create a flat surface or different levels. As it can be used in many different ways, it is good for various situations and functions throughout the day, such as sleeping, sitting or having breakfast.

2. n. Putting one on top of another, you make a temporary table. So, the same resource acts as a bench, bed and table.

Visibility

Phon. [ v ɪ z ə b ɪ l ɪ t i];

1. n. One of the main driving forces of the project: the feeling homeless people have lost as a result of living on the street. The lack of a relationship with and the constant disregard of the rest of society leads them to wonder if anyone really even sees them. This leads to low self-esteem and less desire to reintegrate.

2. n. A concept that is addressed in the ZF through the reception area, as well as the hook light. The homeless are welcomed by volunteers, who make them feel like part of a community. The temporary inhabitants of the flat become visible at night, so they can see and seen by others.

Zero Flat (ZF)

Phon. [ z ɪ r o ʊ f l æ t ];

1. n. A project born at ELISAVA Barcelona School of Design and Engineering as a result of a research project on temporary housing for the homeless. It was initially applied at a flat owned by Foment de Ciutat Vella, the municipal company that specialises in project management in Barcelona, ​​but has been conceived from the beginning as a prototype to be replicate elsewhere. The ZF creates a new type of residence, combining areas such as the Agora, the Great Room, the gate and the service area, the office, the volunteers’ home and the homelessness area, plus a combination night reception and day space for raising awareness and training. It was designed to evoke the essential connotations of a shared home, but without losing the characteristic versatility of a temporary or portable house.

2. n. Taking advantage of the hours in which the flat is unoccupied and meeting the needs of Arrels Foundation, the project incorporates a second day use with a classroom or multipurpose meeting space, for training volunteers and holding school visits.