Sant Adrià de Besòs was the setting for a dinner at the Tres Xemeneies building, where around 30 guests gathered to discuss architecture and the future of the Catalonia Media City project. The event was organised by Turisme de Barcelona and brought together Catalan architects, national journalists and international journalists.
The dinner formed part of a three-day programme that took attendees to several architectural sites across Catalonia. These included the Casa de l'Arquitectura, the 'Seny i rauxa' exhibition at the Dhub, the Casacuberta Marsans collection, the expansion works at Fira de Barcelona, the Mies van der Rohe award exhibition, and the renovation of La Rambla from the Columbus Monument viewpoint.
Mateu Hernández, general director of Turisme de Barcelona, said the organisation aims to attract good tourists to Barcelona and to think beyond the city itself, including the metropolitan area. Representatives from Barcelona Regional and the Roca company were also among the institutional guests. For more on local coverage, see our news tag.
The evening began with a presentation of the Catalonia Media City project, which will transform the Tres Xemeneies building. Architects Jordi Garcés and Daria de Seta, who drafted the project with Anna Bonet and colleagues from Marvel studio, presented their vision. Garcés described Tres Xemeneies as a unique landmark that forms a triangle with Montjuïc and the Sagrada Família.
Discussion during the dinner also covered the upcoming UIA Congress, where Tres Xemeneies will be one of the main venues. Maria Giramé and Pau Sarquella, two of the congress curators, said the project reflects a different approach from the 1996 congress, which featured architects such as Norman Foster, Peter Eisenman and Jacques Herzog. Sarquella argued that future architecture is collective and shaped by economic, political and other disciplinary ecosystems, with a stronger link to citizens and public policy.
Jordi Garcés also spoke about La Rambla after its renovation, recalling a proposal he shared with Beth Galí to clear the central promenade of private activity and place café terraces against the façades, in a model closer to Paris. He said Barcelona could lead a different approach because of the attention it receives, while stressing that tourism should not be neglected and that the congress should influence administrations and politicians.
The dinner also included younger architects such as Lucía Millet from Cierto Estudio and Marcos Parera from Mesura, as well as Fermín Vázquez, a Barcelona-based architect who is working with Toyo Ito on the Fira de Barcelona expansion. Vázquez said he had once thought continuing the Sagrada Família was a mistake, but now sees the result as a success. The discussions are expected to feed into the UIA Congress and the wider debate on architecture in Catalonia.
