Discover why now Barcelona is a reference for many cities in the world
From the Olympic Games in 1992, Barcelona has been inviting world famous architects to embellish the city and endorse it with modern facilities. See the works by Frank Gehry, Arata Isozaki, Norman Foster, Jean Nouvel, Jacques Herzog, Richard Rogers… and get to know the Spanish emergent architecture promises!
Our tours are private tours for your party only. No strangers joining your tours.
Get to skip the lines in all museums and sites. Don’t even buy tickets in advance.
Here are 2 suggested itineraries (4 hours each):
The New Barcelona: from the 1992 Olympics to the 2004 Forum of Cultures
Barceloneta district: W Hotel (Ricardo Bofill), Barceloneta Market, Gas Company Building (E. Miralles & B. Tagliabue)
Olympic Village: urban planning, Fish sculpture (Frank Gehry)
Glories area: National Theater (Ricardo Bofill), Auditorium (Rafael Moneo), AGBAR Tower (Jean Nouvel)
22@ District / Poblenou: sustainable architecture, Parc Central del Poblenou (Jean Nouvel), Me Hotel (Dominique Perrault)
Diagonal Mar: park by E. Miralles & B. Tagliabue
Forum of Cultures: Blue Building by Herzog & Demeuron, and other.
Rethinking the city: from the 1929 World Fair to nowadays
Olympic Ring: St. Jordi stadium (Arata Isozaki), Antenna (S. Calatrava)
1929 World Fair: Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, Caixaforum renovation (A. Isozaki), Arenas bullring refurbishment (Richard Rogers)
Gran Via 2 area: works by Toyo Ito, David Chipperfield and Richard Rogers amongst others.
Have a list of favorites? Share it with us so we can create your custom itinerary!
Tour duration: 4 hours. Extra hours can be added if you want to include more sites.
Transportation: Combination of walking + taxis/subway, or tour with a private driver.
Tour is available Mon-Sun. All buildings can be seen from outside, and only a few can also be visited inside (entrance fees might apply). If you have a special interest in entering one of them, please let me know so we can check their opening hours.
DID YOU KNOW… That the “Barcelona Model” for city planning combining old and new in a sustainable way has been copied in many cities around the world?
Some extra info to help you figuring out which itinerary would work best for you:
Olympic Village, Barceloneta & Waterfront. One of the first areas in town to be approached from a contemporary architecture point of view for the 1992 Olympics (stands out the Fish sculpture by Frank Gehry), later additions have been incorporated to the list such as the Gas Natural headquarters by Miralles & Tagliabue, or the trendy W Hotel.
Glòries. This always controversial giant turnabout concentrates a remarkable amount of top-class architecture: the spectacular AGBAR tower by Jean Nouvel, the TNC (National Theater of Catalonia) by Ricardo Bofill and the Auditori by Rafael Moneo, plus the future headquarters of the DHUB, currently in progress. From here it is easy to access the 22@ District, too.
22@ District. This former industrial area has become the contemporary architecture lab of the city. Here bustling media business district combine the heritage of restored factories with high-tech new buildings and a urban development focused in self-sustainability, as well as the integration of housing and services beside the economical activities. Discover the emerging local architects and explore here a design park by Jean Nouvel.
Diagonal Mar & Forum of Cultures. The far end of the city was finally developed in 2004, with the excuse of organizing a big international event: the Forum of Cultures. The city received international architecture prizes for the Blue Building by Herzog & Demeuron, but other projects such as the Congress Center and the Diagonal Mar park are also worth seeing.
Montjuïc Hill. The 1992 Olympic facilities (Calatrava, Arata Isozaki…) can be linked with the area of the 1929 World Fair where you shouldn’t miss one of the fathers of contemporary architecture: Mies van der Rohe with his German Pavilion (reconstruction). Just a bit further, Richard Rogers completed the transformation of the old Las Arenas bullring into a modern shopping mall.
Gran Via 2. The construction of the second enclosure of the trade fair facilities has enabled the transformation of a working class neighborhood into a new business district with interventions of renowned architects such as Toyo Ito, David Chipperfield and Richard Rogers again.
