This issue of El Croquis focuses on the Balearic Housing Institute (IBAVI) and its contribution to the development and management of social housing in the Balearic Islands between 2019 and 2023, presenting 46 projects. Simbiotiqa participated in two of them: the 9 HPP in Es Migjorn Gran, Menorca (together with MIBA Architects) and the 11 HPP in Fornells, Es Mercadal, Menorca (together with J. Ferrando and J. E. Vilardell).

All the featured practices follow the principles of Life Reusing Posidonia (a project funded by the LIFE+ European programme for Nature Conservation and Climate Change Adaptation) and serve as examples of an architectural language that meets the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They prioritise comfort through passive strategies to reduce energy poverty and emphasise the use of low-carbon, preferably local, materials. In addition, all designs incorporate gender perspective criteria while seeking the highest architectural quality.

Paradoxically, this new language, within the Mediterranean island context of the Balearic Islands, emerges from recovering, updating and adapting the region’s cultural heritage to contemporary needs¹.

¹ Adapted from the presentation text of El Croquis 219 on the publisher’s website: elcroquis.es/products/219-ibavi