URBAN CANOPY

Located at the intersection of the Diagonal avenue, the Meridian and the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, traced in the nineteenth century by Ildefons Cerda, the piazza Glories Catalanes was supposed to form the heart of the new Barcelona. However, this area has become a major metropolitan traffic infrastructure. Since the 1990s, this part of the city has been reinvested: the Diagonal Avenue was extended to the sea and new facilities were built, such as the auditorium by Rafael Moneo. In 2005, french architect Jean Nouvel stood the Agbar Tower on the east edge of the site. It remained to settle the case of the intersection.

Called «Canopia urbana» (Urban Canopy) the project plans to treat the site like a park square, a public space of a new genre in Barcelona. The space has been previously freed from traffic (some traffic should ultimately go underground) and the ground will now be continuously accessible and perfectly comfortable. The project plans to vary the density of plantations, alternating islands of vegetation teeming with more open spaces including a large clearing.

The park site is surrounded by a mixed program of about 70,000 m². The distribution of th enew buildings will articulate the new park with the Meridian avenue and the Diagonal. These are therefore new architectural typologies in Barcelona that will be settled on the site at the joint with the city of Cerdà, the suburbs and the digital 22 @ district, to engaged a renewed urban experience of the Catalan capital.