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Tres Xemeneies (Three Chimneys) is a former coal-fired power plant in Sant Adri de Bess. Think of it as Barcelonas own Battersea Power Station, London’s iconic power station that has been redeveloped into a technological hub (and Apple’s new London digs). Like Battersea, Barcelona’s plant is set to undergo a radical transformation into the new Catalunya Media Citya cutting-edge hub for digital arts, technology, and education. The winning design is called E la nave va, a nod to Federico Fellinis film of the same name, which translates to And the Ship Sails On, a reference to how this long-dead structure that resembles a three-mast ship will keep cruising history in a new era. According to its creatorsBarcelona-based Garcés de Seta Bonet Arquitectes and New York-Barcelona firm Marvelthe project promises to honor the sites industrial legacy while propelling it into a sustainable, community-centric future. The project is slated to break ground in late 2025 and be completed by 2028. [Image: Garcés de Seta Bonet Arquitectes/Marvel] Three Chimneys looks exactly how it sounds: a gigantic structure dominated by three 650-foot-tall chimneys. The brutalist plant was built in the 1970s and faced controversy even before its opening. Many of the residents of Badalona and Barcelona hated it both for the aesthetics and the environmental implications. Its problems continued in 1973, when workers building the station went on strike for better working conditions, and one person was killed by police. The company that ran the station was also sued because of the pollution it caused, and the plant eventually shuttered. [Photo: courtesy Garcés de Seta Bonet Arquitectes/Marvel] The structure is imposing. Its giant concrete vaults, labyrinthine floors, and towering chimneys presented a unique challenge to preserving its industrial DNA while adapting it for the 21st century. Guido Hartray, founding partner of Marvel, tells me over email that the buildings dense structure and distinct spatial qualities guided the strategy. Rather than force modern elements onto the existing framework, the team used the buildings features to organize its function. [Image: Garcés de Seta Bonet Arquitectes/Marvel] For instance, the lower floorswith their enclosed, cavernous spaceswill house vocational training classrooms and research labs, while the airy upper levels with their panoramic coastal views will host incubators and exhibition halls. We kept the existing structure largely unaltered, Hartray says, retaining its experiential qualities and limiting modifications. This approach ensures that the power plants raw, industrial essence remains palpable, even as it accommodates immersive media studios and a modern, 5,600-square-meter exhibition hall likened to Londons Tate Modern Turbine Hall. The intervention isnt a sharp contrast between old and new, Hartray notes. Its a dialogue. [Image: Garcés de Seta Bonet Arquitectes/Marvel] The architects leveraged the buildings robust concrete skeletona relic of its industrial pastas a sustainability asset. Barcelonas mild climate allows the thermal mass of the concrete to passively regulate temperatures, reducing reliance on mechanical systems. Spaces requiring precise climate control, such as recording studios and laboratories, are nested in a building within a building, insulated from external fluctuations, according to the studios. The rooftop will double as a public terrace and energy hub, with 4,500 square meters of solar panels generating renewable power. This dual function not only offsets the energy demands of lighting and HVAC systems but also creates a communal vantage point connecting Barcelona, Sant Adri de Bess, and Badalona. The rooftops role as both infrastructure and gathering space embodies our vision of sustainability as a social and environmental practice, Hartray says. [Image: Garcés de Seta Bonet Arquitectes/Marvel] From turbine hall to coastal balcony The projects most striking interventionthe transversal cuts that slice through the turbine hallemerged from a meticulous study of the buildings anatomy. Marvel and Garcés de Seta Bonet identified natural breaks in the long, warehouse-like structure, using these to carve openings that link the interior to the outdoors. These cuts create fluid transitions between the industrial hall and the surrounding landscape, stitching together the Barcelona-Badalona urban axis and the natural borders of sea and mountains. [Image: Garcés de Seta Bonet Arquitectes/Marvel] The north facades new balcony, overlooking the Badalona coastline, epitomizes this connectivity. Jordi Garcés, cofounder of Garcés de Seta Bonet Arquitectes, tells me via email that they have designed a proposal that plays with connections and knotstemporal, landscape, and territorial. One of the key features will be linking the city with the sea, where users and residents can share a large communal space. For the first time, there will be a balcony facing the city of Badalona, north of Barcelona. The architectural elements at different heights will offer new landscape perspectives, as if it were a land art piece. In this shared communal space, he says, residents and visitors alike can engage with the Mediterranean horizon. [Image: Garcés de Seta Bonet Arquitectes/Marvel] The building is the core of Catalunya Media City, which is a project that the regional government says will democratize access to technology and creativity. It claims that it will house educational programs for more than 2,500 students annually, including vocational training; research incubators partnering with universities and corporations; immersive installations and performances in a monumental hall with 56-foot-tall ceilings; and production studios, including an auditorium, soundstages, and UX labs.
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The psychological contract hasnt just shifted around where we work. It has shifted, and continues to shift, around the entire relationship between organizations and employees. That shift in expectations feels most dramatic when we look at Gen Z, the latest entrants to the workforce. More than 40% of Gen Z employees have refused a work assignment because of ethical concerns. Nearly four in 10 have turned down a job with a company that doesnt align with their values. In the workplace, they are driving the conversation around social justice, mental health, and work-life balance. More than 90% of workers say theyve been influenced by Gen Z on issues of meaning at work, and more than six in 10 say Gen Z has made them more likely to speak up when they dont approve of something at work. Career Stage vs. Generational Differences Some of the generational differences were experiencing are just career stage differences. While the Three Cs of meaningful workcommunity, contribution, and challengeare important for everyone, different people will value different sources of meaning more highly. In particular, those newer to the workforce tend to want opportunities to learn and grow. Jennifer Deal, who has studied generational changes at work for many years, says, When people talk about generations, what they do is they think about lumps of people cohorts that were born at a particular time, and that doesnt really have as much of an effect in the workplace as does life stage, career stage, and level in the organization. Young people want to be challenged. While you should focus on all Three Cs for everybody, you might want to put more weight on challenge for people who are new to the workforce and weigh things differently for people who are middle or later career. Other generational differences, however, represent a shift in employees expectations of organizations and their leaders. Arthur Brooks shares, Every year I teach Harvard MBA students about happiness and its unique relationship to leadership. These students are almost all destined for tremendous success as measured in worldly terms: money, prestige, and power. To most people in our society, this seems like a dream come true and the secret to happiness. Yet each year, when I speak to my MBA studentsboth in class and in private office hoursmany are concerned. Are they truly on the path to happiness because of their near-certain success? They talk to alumni who complain about workaholism, broken relationships, and trouble finding passion. This provokes a lot of anxiety about meaning. What Gen Z can teach In our consulting work, were frequently called in to help leaders navigate the divide between younger and older employees. We commonly hear things like, These kids just dont want to work. We find it more accurate to say, These kids dont want to work the way you did. While younger employees of course have a lot to learn, we believe this generation also has some things to teach. As we move toward a new, better model of work, this rising cohort is challenging many long-held ideals and broken structures. They arent encumbered by the old system because they havent invested in it. Kahlil Shepard, a Gen Z worker, says, I want to do things that matter. I want to feel like Im constantly evolving. I want to work at a place where leaders are facilitating not just my growth broadly but also my ability to live out my values in the world. Leaders can, and should, challenge this cohort to temper their ideals with practical realities. At the same time, leaders have an opportunity to take their aspirations of a better model and help bring it to life. This requires leaders to unlearn some of the meaning-killing behaviors that are a part of the old model and adopt better ways of working. The future holds the promise of better work for all of us. We all want meaningful workwork that builds community, that contributes to others, and that challenges us to grow. As a leader, you have far more influence than you think in creating this meaning for others. Small moments of meaning can create ripples that reach our families, friends, and neighbors. The impact of these moments can extend far into the future. We believe that now and into the future every job can, and should, be meaningful with the help of a great leader. We believe that leader is you. What if all jobs were meaningful? Imagine a world where every job is designed to be sustainable and fulfilling. Where jobs offer not just a paycheck but also a sense of contribution. Imagine work environments that prioritize relationships and connections over mere transactions. What if every employee was valued not as a temporary fix or a number on a balance sheet but as a crucial, long-term contributor to the organizations success? Imagine a world where earning a living did not come at the cost of living a meaningful life. How would this shift in work impact our organizations, our society, and our personal well-being? Making work meaningful is not an item to check off your to-do list. Its the critical lens through which you must view every decision, interaction, and task. Meaning is createdor destroyedin daily moments. Every conversation in which you truly listen, every piece of positive feedback you give, and every project you assign that encourages learning and growth dont just add upthey multiply. Excerpted from Meaningful Work: How to Ignite Passion and Performance in Every Employee. Copyright 2025 by Wes Adams and Tamara Myles. Available from PublicAffairs, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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Things are tough right now, with complexity and uncertainty in the world driving stress and worry. Youre probably trying to stay positive and muscle through. But theres an important difference between keeping appropriately optimistic and acting with toxic positivity. If youre faced with toxic positivity in yourself or others, its probably based on good intentions that have run amok. But it can actually create a negative spiral that can make things worse. Staying positive during trying times According to a survey from MyPerfectResume, people are reporting record levels of exhaustion, anxiety, and stress with 88% who said they were burned out. In addition, 32% of respondents reported they felt anxiety, including 30% who had headaches and 25% who had muscle pain related to their burnout, according to the data. Attempting to stay optimistic is a reasonable response, but toxic positivity is what happens when that goes too far. It involves ignoring reality, suppressing negative emotions, and trying to be overly positive in every situation, regardless of reality. Those with toxic positivity may also try to impose their attitudes on othersto the annoyance of those around them. Toxic positivity has multiple negative effects. First, when people demonstrate toxic positivity, it can result in denying reality, and undermining their ability to respond constructively to negative situations. Second, an unwillingness to express real emotions can result in feeling isolated from others and can cause mental health challenges for the person expressing toxic positivity. Third, when someone is acting with toxic positivity and denying others emotions, it creates barriers to forming a trusting relationship, because others may feel devalued. Fourth, when someone is perceived as inauthentic, others may question their honesty or integrityagain getting in the way of building relationships. So, how can you be positive without embracing toxic behavior? There are some strategies that work. Be aware and be realistic You can avoid toxic positivity by staying aware of whats going onincluding the bad news or challenges that emerge. Repressing or avoiding difficulties or uncomfortable facts is a classic characteristic of toxic positivity. Avoid burying your head in the sand. Instead, seek information, stay in the know, and be aware. You dont have to overdo negative thinking or marinate in bad news, but you will want to keep your eyes open to real situations and circumstances. Its also important to be realistic. You dont need to overcorrect toxic positivity by catastrophizing or anticipating all the worst outcomes, but its constructive to be clear about whats going on and face up to the need for solutions. Put energy into responding to problems instead of investing energy in sealing them out. As youre working through disappointment or discouragement with yourself or others, also avoid using insincere positive statements or gimmicks. A study published in Psychological Science found that most people believe positive statements can help their mood and their self-esteem. But in the experiment, people who struggled with low self-esteem and who also repeated positive self-statements like, Im a loveable person, felt worse than they did before using the self-statement. The bottom line: Sometimes inauthentic or superficial solutions like hollow self-talk are worse than an honest assessment of whats difficult and an intention to deal with it. Encourage and empower yourself and others, but stop short of using superficial feel-good statements that get in the way of authenticity or action. Be empathetic At the same time youre aware of situations and realities, youll also need to stay in tune with people and be empathic toward them. Consider what theyre going through, ask questions, and listen to their points of view. By validating what people are going through and by being present with them in tough times, you can both support them and empower them to work through difficulties. This is helpful to them and it also builds the relationship, which is good for both of you. Also avoid imposing your attitudes on others. If youre naturally an optimistic person, thats fine, but avoid attempting to change others. Youll want to support them, but if you try to convince someone that everything is okay despite all theyre going through, youll just irritate them and drive a wedge in the relationship. Its okay to be optimistic While youre avoiding a toxic approach to positivity, you can be optimistic. Look to the future and be hopeful about itand take action to find solutions for the issues that are important to you. Optimism can lead to positive outcomes. In a study of over 70,000 people researchers from Boston University surveyed respondents about their optimism and compared it to their health data, over a 10 to 30 year period. They found that those who were more optimistic boosted their longevity by 11% to 15% and increased their chances of living to age 85 by 50%. These effects on longevity were in spite of participants age, education, diseases, or depressionand regardless of habits related to alcohol use, exercise, or diet. Researchers believe that optimism is so powerful because it may help people bounce back from stress and regulate emotions. The difference between toxic positivity and healthy optimism is a matter of degree. If you deny reality, you may be tipping into toxic territory. But if you can be empathetic and avoid imposing your positivity on others, you reach a reasonable balance and connect more deeply with others.
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