Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Olympic & Contemporary Architecture
Barcelona's latest architectural revolution began in the 1980s. The appointment then of Ori-
ol Bohigas, who was regarded as an elder statesman for architecture, as head of urban plan-
ning by the ruling Socialist party marked a new beginning. The city set about its biggest
phase of renewal since the heady days of L'Eixample.
The Olympic Games Building Boom
The biggest urban makeover in 100 years happened in the run-up to the 1992 Olympics,
when more than 150 architects beavered away on almost 300 building and design projects.
The city saw dramatic transformations, from the construction of huge arterial highways to
the refurbishment of whole neighbourhoods in dire need of repair. In a rather crafty man-
oeuvre, the city government used national monies to fund urban improvements the capital
would never normally have approved. Several kilometres of waterfront wasteland that in-
cluded Port Vell was beautifully transformed into sparkling new beaches - suddenly Bar-
celona had prime beachfront real estate. The long road to resurrecting Montjuïc took off
with the refurbishment of the Olympic stadium and the creation of landmarks like Santiago
Calatrava's Torre Calatrava.
Post-1992, landmark buildings still went up in strategic spots, usually with the ulterior
motive of trying to pull the surrounding area up by its bootstraps. One of the most emblem-
atic of these projects is the gleaming white Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, better
known as MACBA, which opened in 1995. The museum was designed by Richard Meier
and incorporates the characteristic elements for which the American architect is so well
known - the geometric minimalism, the pervasive use of all white with glass and steel - and
remains much debated in architectural circles. '…Meier's building was unkind to the art,
badly lit and spatially only barely coherent,' wrote the late art critic Robert Hughes.
More widely hailed, the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, which opened in 1996, is a splen-
did blend of the neoclassical with the modern. Framed by 26 columns with a single gabled
roof and grand entrance steps, the theatre takes the form of a Greek temple, though its all-
glass exterior gives it a light and open appearance.
Henry Cobb's World Trade Center, at the tip of a quay jutting out into the waters of Port
Vell, has been overshadowed by Ricardo Bofill's hotel, W Barcelona, whose spinnaker-like
front looks out to sea from the south end of La Barceloneta's beach strip.
One of the first big projects of the 21st century occurred around Diagonal Mar. A whole
district has been built in the northeast coastal corner of the city where before there was a
void. High-rise apartments, waterfront office towers and five-star hotels - among them the
