Transformations of Barcelona and the Metropolitan Area: Civic Architecture

This session brings together a series of public buildings that transform the city from very different situations: cultural institutions that expand, existing buildings that are reorganized, markets that renew their relationship with urban memory, spaces of care that introduce well-being into everyday life, and new infrastructures capable of articulating complex programmes.

Through the expansions of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) and the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), developed by Christ & Gantenbein in collaboration with Harquitectes; Santa Caterina Market and Kálida Sant Pau Centre, by EMBT; and Artifact. Montjuïc Multifunctional Fairground, by Miquel Mariné in collaboration with Smiljan Radić, Beatriz Borque and César Rueda, the session explores how public architecture works with access, circulation, thresholds, materiality, and relationships with context to open institutions to the city, support new forms of use, and create more attentive, inclusive, and habitable public spaces.