Public Pleasures was a research and design project exploring expanded forms of care through accessible spaces for dance and collective celebration. By centering aging and non-normative bodies, it positions architectural design as an agent of desire and a key force within care infrastructures, framing pleasure as both a right and a form of healing. The project was developed for the World Congress of Architects (UIA) in Barcelona. The research focused on the city of Barcelona and its techno dance spaces—a musical genre that has played a significant role in shaping the post-industrial European city—addressing how techno venues often reproduce exclusionary dynamics the project proposed making techno dancing accessible to all.

A large-scale prototype of a techno dancefloor reimagined pleasure as a political, spatial, and bodily practice tied to accessibility. A series of mechanisms suspended from the ceiling provided the required conditions to make the dancing experience available to diversity of bodies. Accessibility was understood not only as a physical challenge but also as a representational issue that fosters recognition and equity. The project was developed in dialogue with a series of experts and users.

The images are from the closing party, co-organized with the collective @discopacitades and with DJs amoramor + @sofysuars. Pictures by @joseporroche.

Project main authors: @care.xyz. + @maioarchitects + @polestevecastello

Research: Care. (Anna Puigjaner, Ethel Baraona Pohl, Pol Esteve Castelló, Laura Bravo, Pau Gelpí Roig)


Design: MAIO (Maria Charneco, Alfredo Lérida, Guillermo López and Anna Puigjaner) and Pol Esteve Castelló


Collaborators: Laura Bravo, Pau Gelpí Roig, Abdulrahman Alqasem, Júlia Torres Navarro, Silvia Fernández Puigdevall.

Research conversations: Ángel Molina, Discopacitades (Luca Roma, Marta Bustos, Nina Roma, Sara Bisbe), Javier Marcuello, Joan Mas Soler, Meritxell de Soto, Sonia Fernández Pan.

Oral stories: Àngels Hidalgo, Carlos Romagosa, Eugènia Sentís, Isabel Caballero, Júlia Martinez, Paloma Unzeta, Rosana Garrido, Rosa Puigcercós.

Metal structure: Tallers Soteras

With the support of Stavros Niarchos Foundation