Barcelona, past, present, and Mediterranean future
Barcelona opens up to the sea. The physical limitations of Barcelona to the north and south with the Besòs and Llobregat rivers, and to the west with the Collserola mountain, meant that in the face of the transformation carried out for the Barcelona '92 Olympic Games, there was only one direction left to expand, the Mediterranean. And it's not that the city has gained ground towards the Mare Nostrum, which it has, but the only viable area for carrying out new projects was the zone stretching from Barceloneta and the Ciutadella park to the mouth of the Besòs.
There lay the industrial area of Poblenou, with factories either disused or, simply, abandoned. Beyond that, the city faded into Somorrostro, a “neighborhood” full of shanties built by migrants who moved to Barcelona to take advantage of the job opportunities created by the 1888 Universal Exposition.
But all that changed one afternoon in 1986 when Juan Antonio Samaranch said those words: “to the city of…Barcelona”. It was then that an urban transformation comparable to the Cerdà plan and the Exhibitions of 1888 and 1929 began, which were felt throughout the city, but had their epicenter in the coastal area. And although Barcelona'92 was the most ambitious, it has not been the only project that has brought us closer to the sea.
The Olympic Village
A new neighborhood emerged from Barcelona '92, through which Barcelona definitively opened up to the sea. Until then, the entire area belonged to the industrial complex of Poblenou and was filled with shanties. The design was led by the team of architects composed of Josep Martorell, Oriol Bohigas, David Mackay, and Albert Puigdomènech, who crafted the neighborhood following the grid model of city blocks seen in the Eixample. During the Olympics, it served as the official residence for the athletes. Its construction brought new life to an area that was traditionally poor. From the outset, the place was conceived as a space of quality and tranquility, full of gardens and wide avenues facing the sea. Beaches such as Bogatell, Nova Icària, or Mar Bella were gained. Over time, the area became a hot spot for leisure in Barcelona, thanks to the revitalization of the Olympic Port as an area for dining and partying: bars, beach bars, and restaurants attract a large part of the city's tourism. Other constructions from that time include the group of buildings formed by the Arts hotel and the Mapfre tower, which at 154 meters changed the skyline of Barcelona, Frank Gehry's Fish sculpture, the Maremàgnum, and the renovation of the Barceloneta promenade.
The Forum of Cultures
La Barcelona postolímpica se reinventó con un nuevo proyecto que abrió la única parte de Barcelona que todavía vivía de espaldas al mar, la zona del Fòrum. En 1996, el entonces alcalde Pasqual Maragall presentó un nuevo evento que colocaría a nuestra ciudad de nuevo en el mapa mundial: El Fòrum Universal de las Culturas de 2004, un evento internacional de cuatro meses de duración sobre la diversidad cultural y el desarrollo sostenible. La zona escogida fue el límite norte de la ciudad, junto a la desembocadura del río Besòs, una zona bastante degradada hasta ese momento. Con la transformación olímpica en el recuerdo, se llevó a cabo el proyecto urbano más ambicioso en Barcelona en las últimas décadas, en una extensión de 30 hectáreas. Se acabó de cambiar la fisonomía del Poblenou creando el distrito tecnológico del 22@, se prolongó la Diagonal hasta primera línea de mar, se construyó un nuevo barrio residencial – Diagonal Mar- en el que prima la sostenibilidad de las edificaciones y se adecentó la zona que albergaría todos los actos del Fòrum. Así, se construyeron hoteles, una placa fotovoltaica, un escenario, un mirador, una zona de baños, dos parques infantiles, una gran explanada y un auditorio. Tras el Fòrum, la ciudad ha heredado un enorme parque urbano multifuncional en el que se realizan todo tipo de actividades de ocio y suele ser sede de festivales como el Primavera Sound o el Cruïlla. Y es que pocos espacios pueden presumir en nuestra ciudad de acoger, de manera simultánea, hasta 65.000 personas.
The New Entrance of Port Vell
After reclaiming the entire northern coastline of Barcelona, the city continues to make its way towards the Mediterranean on its southern side. Thus, 18 years after the demolition of the old Breakwater jetty to build the Europe bridge that was supposed to facilitate the access of vessels to the docks, Barcelona has inaugurated a 400-meter-long jetty as the first phase of a new project to extend the city towards the sea. The project will be completed with a second phase in which buildings for nautical teaching, a franchise of the Hermitage museum bearing the signature of the Japanese architect Toyo Ito, and a dining area will be constructed to evoke the sweetest times of the old breakwater, which has always remained in the collective memory of the people of Barcelona.
The new breakwater has been designed as an extension of the seafront promenade starting from an expansion of the Rosa dels Vents square, which now offers a 360-degree panoramic view of the sea and the city. In total, we are talking about 36,000 m2of public and civic use space that will mean the extension and connection of the port area with the promenade. With this reform, the new promenade ends in a viewpoint with stands offering unique views of the Mediterranean and the area surrounding Montjuïc mountain. According to the recorded data, the experience could not have been more positive. Since its opening at the end of 2018, thousands of visitors have walked or cycled the 400 meters to the unexpected 360-degree panoramic view of the new Barcelona viewpoint.
Both to the north and to the south of its territory, Barcelona is once again building its future by opening up to the Mediterranean, which it had turned its back on for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, forgetting that its origins came through the sea. Looking back to move forward. Does it sound familiar?
