Architecture and Design in Barcelona

Barcelona unites diverse trends in architecture and design that, together with creativity, art, and innovation, establish a unique identity on an international level. Within the past 25 years, the city has become the headquarters of numerous celebrated architects and designers, each building on and working off of the artistic heritage of such masters as Gaudí, Miró, Picasso and Tàpies, and ultimately making Barcelona one of today’s most dynamic and important design capitals.

In light of this special status, and because Hotel Soho has been named among the most vibrant examples of design in Barcelona by the Barcelona Design Centre (BCD), we’ve put together a list of the city’s most architecturally notable buildings well worth visiting:

CCCB - Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona
Montalegre, 5.
Located on the site of a convent and orphanage built in 1802 and operative until 1957, the CCCB’s modern design is based on an adaptation of the original structure that frames the large interior patio, known as the Pati de les Dones (Patio of the Women) and built in three wings, five stories high, and arranged in a U-shape.
The new building spans 15,000 square meters and its facilities include three halls, an auditorium, and various multi-purposes spaces, such as the lobby, the Patio, and the Mirador room. The building was designed by architects Helio Piñón and Albert Viaplana, winners of the 1993 FAD Barcelona Architecture awards.

MACBA - The Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona
Plaza dels Àngles, 1.
Designed by architect Richard Meier, the structure of this museum was conceived as a 120 x 35 meter foundation with a circular, vertically-oriented piece that transects the four stories, and creates different gallery spaces with each intersection it makes.
Richard Meier’s architecture is based on a clear rationalism, with numerous allusions to the masters of the modern movement, most notably Le Corbusier. His works typically fuse straight lines with curves, creating an ongoing dialog between interior spaces and the outdoor light that penetrates them through balconies and skylights.

Santa Caterina Market
Av. Francesc Cambó, 16.
This nineteenth century open-air market was recently remodeled by architects Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue. The resulting structure markedly exhibits the dynamic relationship between antiquity and modernity, and the functionality of innovative building design. The spectacular roof presents a striking mosaic of vibrant colors and an undulating structure with branch-shaped colonnades.

PRBB - Barcelona Biomedical Research Park
Dr. Aiguader, 88.
The work of Architects Manuel Brullet and Albert Pineda, the PRBB building spans over 55,000 square meters, and is located on a 9,000 square meter plot on Barcelona’s coastline.

22@Barcelona - Innovation District
A creative and innovative building that offers modern spaces and serves as strategic headquarters for all sorts of knowledge-intensive activities.

The Forum
Av. Diagonal s/n.
The work of Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, this building is essentially a single-story prism, built on an equilateral triangle 180 meters wide and 25 meters high. The gallery inside spans 2,000 square meters and holds an auditorium that can seat up to 4,000 people.

Diagonal Mar 
This structure, designed by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue, was built as part of the total remodeling of the Sant Martí industrial zone, and the founding of a whole new neighborhood: Diagonal Mar. This park manifests Gaudí’s lasting influence, captured in the use of iron, curved lines, nature, mosaics, and other uniquely Gaudí features.

Poblenou Park
Av. Diagonal between Bilbao and Bac de Roda.
Designed by prestigious French architect Jean Nouvel, this structure is like a brain-teaser, with a series of visually and acoustically independent compounds that together form an isosceles triangle with an area of over 55,000 square meters, divided into five irregularly-shaped islands.

Agbar Tower
Av. Diagonal, 211.
This office tower, designed by Jean Nouvel in collaboration with the Catalan design studio B270, comprises two non-concentric oval cylinders crowned by a crystal and steel dome, totaling 31 diaphanous floors without interior columns. The offices are located in the building’s core. The structure pays homage to Gaudí, given its arc-inspired shape, as well as to the mountain range of Montserrat, as it resembles a geyser reaching up into Barcelona’s blue skies.