5 buildings in Barcelona that are worth a Pritzker!

Following the presentation of the most Pritzker-recognized Barcelona, today we continue our journey through those buildings whose designers have received the Pritzker Prize for architecture. To varying degrees, these are very well-known venues. Some of them might even be considered iconic. Almost as much as the brilliant minds behind them, among whom we can find true authorities in the field, who have left a piece of their legacy in our city. And even if they go unnoticed on the street, they are classic names in the industry. You're sure to recognize more than one!

1. Rafael Moneo (1996)

With his appointment in 1996 as the Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate, Rafael Moneo became the first Spaniard to achieve the coveted award. The architect from Navarre had by then created iconic buildings such as the Atocha railway station in Madrid or the Villahermosa Palace, home of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. In Barcelona, we can find two buildings that bear his signature, which we can see and analyze almost daily.

The first was the L’illa Diagonal shopping center, a pioneer among the large commercial areas of our city. This building consists of 35,000 m2 divided among commercial spaces, offices, and even a hotel. The second building designed by Moneo is L’Auditori, a modern venue of 42,000m2 located at the confluence of the 3 main arteries of Barcelona: Gran Vía, La Diagonal, and La Meridiana. The sober modernity of the exterior conceals a sublime space for the enjoyment of music, with 4 halls that together can accommodate more than 3,000 people. The construction also features a central atrium, where we can see a monumental cubic glass lantern in the form of an impluvium.

2. Álvaro Siza (1992)

1992 was a year that marked a before and after in the history of Barcelona, thanks to the hosting of the 25th Olympic Games. That same year, the Pritzker jury awarded the Portuguese Álvaro Siza, who at that time was completing the only work of his that we can enjoy in our city: the Barcelona Meteorological Center. A cylindrical building that we have all seen while walking through the Olympic village, behind the Mapfre towers and next to the Bogatell beach. During the Olympic event, it served as the headquarters from which weather forecasts were made for the regattas and other outdoor events at Barcelona'92. It also housed the international press center.

Architecturally, it is a circular concrete building with exposed finish on the bottom and clad with marble slabs on the higher part, ending in a flat roof designated for the building's machinery. In total, seven floors with an exterior diameter of 33 meters, making it a very recognizable building, which is why it is often a meeting point for many people from Barcelona.

3. Frank Gehry (1989)

One of the most awarded architects of recent times. In addition to winning the Pritzker Prize, he also received the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts in 2014. His career includes buildings such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao or the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. In Barcelona, we have the Golden Fish, a sculpture of colossal size located at the foot of the Hotel Arts, with which the city council wanted to redefine its maritime facade. The Olympic port, the two towers... and a huge figure 56 meters long and 35 meters high that seems like at any moment it could dive into the waters of the Mediterranean in front of which it is situated.

Built on a metallic structure, it is its outer layer, made of golden-colored stainless steel, that gives beauty and uniqueness to the creation. Depending on the intensity of the light and the reflection of the sun's rays on it, this outer layer seems to turn into a scaly skin that brings the inanimate object to life, already visible from the Barceloneta beach. It is because of this play of lights that the sunrise from the sea and the sunset in the evening become the favorite moments for visitors to capture this colorful scene.

4. Richard Meier (1984)

The footprint of the North American Richard Meier is present in cities around the world: the United States, Western Europe, and countries like Israel, Turkey, or Singapore. Barcelona can also boast of having a creation by this prolific architect: the MACBA, designed in 1990 and completed in 1995. The building occupies a useful area of 14,300 m2 and is conceived as a series of prisms, with a cylindrical volume that vertically traverses all the floors and coordinates, along a longitudinal axis, the exhibition areas.

There are two fundamental aspects of this facility: the geometric combination of straight and curved lines, and the omnipresence of natural light, which floods the building with clarity from all four cardinal points.

5. Ieoh Ming Pei (1983)

The last building reviewed here is by no means the oldest of all. However, its creator is indeed the oldest, a centenarian American architect of Chinese origin who received his Pritzker Prize in 1983. He is responsible for the Louvre Museum pyramid in Paris, as well as the J.F.K Presidential Museum in Boston. In a 100% local context, the Barcelona Pritzker concludes with the World Trade Center, designed by Ming Pei and Henry N. Cobb in the last years of the 20th century. Over the years, this business complex has become another icon of the seafront. The site consists of four circular buildings, together forming the shape of a ship, which is quite fitting given its location next to the Mediterranean.

In addition to the office buildings themselves, the complex includes a hotel, a convention center, a central square of 2,500 m2 with a fountain to relax while watching the choreography of its water jets, and a panoramic viewpoint from which to enjoy a unique perspective of our city. Barcelona, seen from the sea.

The list continues with buildings such as the Hesperia Tower Hotel, with its flying saucer-shaped restaurant, a work by Richard Rogers, winner of the 2007 edition, or the Gran Vía 2 fairgrounds, the Realia Tower, or the Porta Fira Hotel, by the Japanese Toyo Ito, who won the Pritzker in 2013. But technically all the buildings belong to L'Hospitalet. The one that will indeed be in Barcelona, and therefore will increase to 11 the number of Pritzkers present in our city, will be the future Hermitage museum, which will be located by the sea, within the limits of the Port Authority of Barcelona.