Marta Vall-Llossera Ferran (Lleida, 1962) is the first woman who is in charge of the Superior Council of the Colleges of Architects of Spain, founded in 1931. Since her appointment, in February 2022, she travels along a road full of thorns, such as the gallop He works in a space in the center of Madrid waiting to be able to inaugurate the headquarters of Paseo de la Castellana, number 12, which has been the subject of a comprehensive reform of Mid Study. Do you think that the Government and the Autonomous Communities are taking effective measures to relieve the crisis? Answer. Measures are being taken in an especially complex problem. But a consensus and, above all, stable policies that have a journey in the medium and long term, because the times that housing in the market are very long and, therefore, we should start implementing them now. Does it refer to a state pact for housing? A. Yes and, in addition, you have to implement measures in the short term because the problem is already and has a very large reach. Q. What do you propose? R. The most immediate thing would be to put housing on the market. In that sense, the most immediate way is the rehabilitation and regeneration of neighborhoods. The measures in the medium term are to have public land and to establish solutions focused on public-private collaboration for the creation of new homes. And we there we insist a lot on the need that it can be done through competitions that also allow studying new housing formats because you have to give solutions to young people and families, but also to the elderly. We understand that architecture competitions can be a bit research forums. On the other hand, long -term measures should go through the approval of the land law that we have pending. It is important because we need to have finalist soil. Does the government's commitment to industrialization approve? A. Yes. It is true that it requires some time, but when consolidating they are techniques that will allow greater speed in construction, greater controls, waste reduction and a commitment to sustainability and new professional opportunities. The commitment to the sector as a whole is key to giving solutions to the housing problem. Q. Do you think promoters could reduce their benefits so that the price of housing falls? R. The price of housing is given by many aspects. First, the price of the land can represent between 15% and 30% of the cost of the house. There is currently a lack of soil. Then, there are issues such as taxation, which can represent 30% of the price. Perhaps establishing incentives for the purchase of first housing or habitual housing could be helpful. And also incentives for the promotion of affordable housing for the promoter. There are no magical solutions. How can architecture help in this serious crisis? A. Architects can contribute a global vision. On the one hand, the technical contribution to ensure that the homes respond to the objectives that Europe is marking in terms of quality, sustainability and decarbonization, but without forgetting the most humanistic part of the architecture that responds to the place, to a certain climate, to a certain culture and an identity. We have to avoid going to globalized and standardized solutions. Q. However, don't you think that all housing promotions are the same? A. Well, that's why we have to avoid going in that direction. When we talk about industrialization, it's not a novelty. After the reconstruction of World War II it was already used to carry out whole housing neighborhoods that suffered from this more architectural part and, therefore, I think we should not fall into the same errors. Industrialization, digitalization and robotics allow, well applied, maintaining those features of differentiation that we must yes or maintain. Q. What state is the house of houses in Spain? R. In Spain we have a park that is around 25.7 million homes. And from that park more than half needs energy improvements because a very high percentage was built before 1979, which is when the first regulations in energy efficiency began. In addition, in Spain there has been very little maintenance culture and many of these buildings have structural pathologies, moisture and difficulties for the accessibility of people. Even sometimes they are not suitable for current modes of life. Q. What is the correct way to rehabilitate that park? A. You have to make a commitment to rehabilitate those buildings in an integral way, trying to improve passive systems, which would be all related to enveloping, enclosures, covers and accessibility. It is a priority issue. It must be accompanied by renewable energy facilities. And that the dependence of these energies is as the least possible to avoid energy poverty and naturally achieve maximum comfort. To make even improvements at the internal distribution level of homes can allow cross ventilations and natural systems to improve energy efficiency. Therefore, we cannot generalize solutions, rehabilitation must start from an in -depth study, case by case, and having very clear objectives, so that we even optimize economic resources. Q. But in rehabilitation solutions are also being standardized. All buildings are putting the thermal insulation system abroad (SATE). A. It is becoming regular because we cannot place Sate indiscriminately. It should not be rehabilitated so. Each building will need a solution. We have several times alerted the danger of neighborhood identity loss. We must continue to recognize that this is the neighborhood. Therefore, we have to try to avoid this type of interventions without the necessary rigor. We believe that all this must be monitored and possibly there should be regulations, ordinances, which will regulate what type of interventions can be done in certain areas. Q. Are European funds arriving and are enough? A. European funds have promoted and have noticed an important increase in rehabilitation. From the data we had in 2019 to last year data there has been an increase of 117%. In 2024 more than 55,000 homes were rehabilitated. Anyway, we are far from the objectives of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan. We should, in 2025, rehabilitate 96,000 homes and in 2030 they should be rehabilitated 300,000 homes a year. The goal is very ambitious. We need to continue betting on rehabilitation, that there are stable measures that encourage it. For example, these years have been tax incentives that have unfortunately have been eliminated now, but have helped a lot because it is immediate and has worked well. Q. Is now much better built than before? R. We have regulations such as the Technical Building Code, which has greatly increased the level of demand. Practically the buildings that are built at this time are almost zero energy. The energy efficiency directive of the buildings was approved last year. European countries have a year to transpose and precisely the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda is working on a new mandatory document and that will collect the demands of this European Directive and are also preparing the National Building Renewal Plan, which will be the strategic document to carry out all these measures. Many aspects will be taken into account, including the carbon footprint of the buildings. For architects it will mean projecting in another way from the beginning, because we will take into account the carbon footprint of the materials that we are going to use, how they occur, how you transport, what footprint they leave the construction techniques … they will also force us to take into account the maintenance of the building throughout its useful life and even its demolition and what materials we can reuse. It is ambitious and will affect the entire value chain. Q. This is going to make the final price of the houses more expensive … R. I understand that. But it is also true that the better the building efficiency is, the less cost during use. Existing buildings where corrective measures have been applied in terms of enclosure efficiency have achieved a very important reduction in energy consumption. So, I think we will have to value the cost-benefit and that balance a little for a lifetime. P. has talked about almost null consumption. What does it mean? A. That they are going to be homes that will greatly reduce energy consumption and that even in some cases they can self -support and with this we will get the emission of greenhouse gases to be very reduced. Europe is marking that by 2030 all new buildings must be so and by 2050 the entire built park. Q. A challenge for a park as aged as Spanish … R. Yes, but it is true that all these improvements will allow us less energy dependence, including other countries. The fact that there are lower emissions in the environment results in healthier spaces and environments, in the health of people, in which the cities are less contaminated … Q. Does the buildings in which we live to health affect so much? R. Totally. And we talk about physical health and emotional health. We saw this with Covid by having to spend many more hours in our homes. Health is important, that are ventilated spaces, that do not accumulate moisture, lighting and all this is basic for the environment we breathe is adequate. But that housing spaces also respond to our needs is important. Q. But you live where you can and not where you want. A. Indeed, but also the spaces can transform them, the distributions. Sometimes the same meters distributed differently give another air to space. It is very clear that in the emotional field these spaces generate positivism. And, above all, the right to housing is essential because it gives stability, tranquility, security and all this affects that emotional part. Q. Architectural barriers also influence R. The issue of accessibility is very important because we have detected, and has now been seen with the Dana de Valencia, that there are many people with access difficulties, older people, people who cannot leave their homes. Much of this old park requires improvements both in the field of homes and in cities, in urban space. It has been improved, but you have to improve much more because, in addition, it tends to more home attention with which you have to adapt those homes to these people. It will be another important challenge. P. The CSCAE opposes the parliamentary motion approved in the Senate to match the level of architects bodies with that of technical architects. Why? R. We have positioned ourselves absolutely because it is governed by constitutional principles of merit and capacity that are complemented by one that is the specialization and really all this results in guarantees for the citizen. The motion that was approved by the Public Function Commission in the Senate really violates those principles and breaks the coherence between the system of degrees and powers for regulated professions. Q. What are the claims of architects? R. We are a profession that we have much to contribute at this time of changes that are of such size that if they do not do well we have much to lose. The starting of a good project and betting on a good architecture favors us all and that there are decent fees means a more elaborate project. We believe that it is necessary to re -vindicate the competition for quality and not so much for price. We have to compete for quality and more when a building has a vocation of permanence
