La Borda is a sustainable urban housing cooperative in Barcelona. I’ve spent the last few weeks in Europe interviewing creators/architects of different modern housing cooperatives that are, in my opinion, a very real way of the future re: climate resilience and the affordable housing crisis. That’s a bold statement from someone who grew up Ithaca, NY and whose understanding of cooperatives was the crunchy rad but very NOT chic Ecovillage housing co-op and GreenStar grocery store co-op I grew up stomping around (shout out to all the hippy parents - thx mom 😌). I am fascinated by today’s newer versions of housing cooperatives like this one, full of hip young families with a savvy sense of design and, natch, a desire to sidestep speculative real estate markets and throw a big 🖕to extractive modes of housing. La Borda was completed in 2018 in the center of Barcelona and was made with sustainable materials including cross-laminated timber, plenty of shared common spaces, a green garden rooftop, and operates on solar power. Rents are cheap, all money goes back into the building & coop rather than in the pockets of a real estate developer, and each inhabitant has an equal vote on decisions that concern their everyday life. There is also a food co-op on the ground floor. Who wants to live with all their *best frens* in cool buildings (and cities) like this? 🙋‍♀️ #climatopia #socialeconomy