Barcelona

Buildings and interstitial spaces in Central Barcelona, Spain. Most of the city is characterized by large square blocks with chamfered corners, creating octagonal voids at street intersections and an expanse of private interior courtyards. Occasional wide avenues bisect the grid with a hierarchy of transportation networks.

Views from Plaça de l’Armada
Night view from Plaça de l’Armada
Blooming jacaranda trees line an octagonal intersection.
Continuous railings around a chamfered corner conceal stair stepped walls to create triangular residential balconies.
Large trees screen a building with a symmetrical gesture around a block chamfer.
Contemporary mixed architecture on narrowly subdivided lots.
Mixed-height buildings fill a chamfered corner triangle.
Circular balconies accentuate the chamfered corner of a block.
Jacaranda trees and strip balconies.
Rounded corners soften the block corner around a chamfer.
Projecting balconies are prevalent throughout Barcelona.
Jacaranda tree in the Plaça de la Sagrada Família.
Trees in the Plaça de la Sagrada Família.
Av. Diagonal
Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes
Estació del Nord
Parc de l’Estació del Nord

Gothic Quarter

This older section of the city is characterized by narrow alleyways in a random grid with midrise buildings and occasional pocket plazas.

Typical alley in the Gothic Quarter.
Balconies clad with decorative ironwork define the narrow alleyways in the Gothic Quarter.
Balmesiana biblioteca balmes
Blooming Jacaranda trees fill a pocket park between the alleyways.
The 14th century Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi takes a restrained gothic form nestled into a dense corner of the city.
Side buttresses of the Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi with a narrow plaza.
Tower of the Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi.
Interior of the Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi.
Rose window of the Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi.
Midrise rooftop view to the Catedral de Barcelona.
Gothic architecture along Via Laietana.
Light fixture in a vestibule with an arched iron door overlooking surrounding streets.
Palau de la Música Catalana
Palau de la Música Catalana
Blooming Jacaranda with light stucco and stone facades.
Carrer del Dr. Joaquim Pou on axis with the tower of the Cathedral of Barcelona.
The 13th century Cathedral of Barcelona.
Late gothic detailing with Mediterranean flair on the Cathedral of Barcelona.
Rear of the Cathedral of Barcelona with animal-topped buttresses.
Side entry to the Cathedral of Barcelona.
Placa de Garriga i Bachs
Parròquia de Sant Pere Nolasc Mercedaris
Tower filling the corner between diagonal roads.
Blending of modernist and historical façade styles.
La Rambla
Placa de Catalunya.

Parc de la Ciutadella

(and surroundings)

Carrer de Wellington lines the length of the eastern edge of the Parc de la Ciutadella with zero cross connectivity and a pleasant tree-lined pedestrian environment.
The grassy median of Carrer de Wellington seamlessly integrates light rail tracks and catenary lines.
Contemporary architecture at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra – Campus de la Ciutadella.
Romanesque university library building at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra – Campus de la Ciutadella.
Romanesque university library building at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra – Campus de la Ciutadella.
Modernist apartment building with triangular balconies reflective of the chamfered grid, overlooking the Parc de la Ciutadella.
Cascada y font monumental in Parc de la Ciutadella.
Cascada monumental in Parc de la Ciutadella.
Cascada y font monumental in Parc de la Ciutadella.
Plaça de Joan Fiveller y Parlament de Catalunya
Parlament de Catalunya
Plaça de Joan Fiveller
Ornamental cast stone railing lining a playground area.
Homenatge a l’Exposició Universal de 1888
Castle of the Three Dragons
Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia
Arc de Triomf
Arc de Triomf
Arc de Triomf
Hivernacle del Parc de la Ciutadella
Five blocks of uniform arcaded buildings line the west edge of the Ciutadella Park.
The exceptionally wide Avenue del Marquès de l’Argentera
Full-block roughly two story excavation for a new building with a mat foundation.
Blank angled walls layer switchback ramps up to the Carrer de Wellington crossing over regional rail tracks.
The Parc de Carles I is consistently deserted, likely due to its limited access one story above street level, over railroads diving below ground.
An elevated pedestrian plaza connection from Carrer de Wellington toward the waterfront.

Central Waterfront

Waterfront view west from Plaça de l’Armada.
Night view from Plaça de l’Armada.
La Cara de Bareclona
La Barceloneta
La Barceloneta
La Barceloneta
Platja del Somorrostro is isolated from the pedestrian promenade with grade separation and limited access points.
The Olympic Port.
David & Goliath sculpture.
Platja del Bogatell
Nova Icaria beach
Platja del Bogatell
Parc del Poblenou
Parc del Poblenou
Passeig de Calvell
Vertically massed residential buildings open porosity to the waterfront.

El Poblenou

Plaça dels Voluntaris Olímpics
La Vila Olímpica del Poblenou
A green park fills the interior of a standard large Barcelona block.
Avenida d’Icaria
Avenida d’Icaria
Esculturas Avenida d’Icaria
Esculturas Avenida d’Icaria
Staggered cornices and wall remnants of demolished structures.
A triangular building at a chamfered corner.
Fixed and movable shutters screen contemporary facades.
Young trees at the waterfront end of Rambla del Poblenou
A circular plaza fills the octagonal block intersection along the Rambla del Poblenou.
Tall trees bring verticality to the Rambla del Poblenou.
Tree-lined plaza along the Rambla del Poblenou.
Plaza forming a narrow vehicular roundabout across the Rambla del Poblenou.
The more typical octagonal intersection is a sea of vehicular space with parking and streets.
An underutilized intersection in the octagonal block structure.
Breezeway to an internal private park.
Stark plaza at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
Cross-block building massed with suspended staggered floors climbing over the roadway.
Two story building over an open diaphragm level with pratt trusses spanning over a roadway.
Building split by breezeway spanning over a roadway with two large capitaled columns.
Conventional building mass treating the underlying roadway as a breezeway.
Av. del Bogatell
Av. del Bogatell
View down Carrer de la Marina to the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *