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Barcelona: Spaces and Sculptures (1982-1986)
The creation or redevelopment of an urban space may lead to the emergence of a new landscape that becomes symbolic. This phenomenon is often unintentional on the part of its authors. But it can also be a deliberate phenomenon. Barcelona City Council has chosen this path.
Indeed, Barcelona’s recent urban planning policy has proposed a deliberate integration of the need to regenerate the city, especially its outlying areas, and the attention to the artistic expressiveness of projects. This expressiveness is arrived at along two paths: by paying attention to the quality of architectural design and by incorporating sculptural works into spaces.
These goals have led to the creation of a series of parks, squares and urban thoroughfares that already had a symbolic dimension from the outset. It was neither years nor habits that slowly created it, as is the case most of the time. It was a political will and an aesthetic will that allowed the surprising and spectacular emergence of these new emblems through the choice of sites and projects.
However, the city has grown to the point of being unattainable. We live on limited plots of land, and there are many streets and squares that we ignore and may never set foot on. This set of projects may be affected by this inaccessibility. Hence the impulse to bring together in an exhibition a representative sample of the process undertaken. To make it possible to arrive at a general idea of this process. To facilitate the contrast between the projects. To show the action taken by Barcelona to other cities that may have preceded us or that may look to us as an example and stimulus. To make these projects known not only to architecture and urban planning specialists, but also to all those interested in urban culture, in the social projection of artistic creation.
The Town Planning and Public Works Department of the Barcelona City Council and the Fundació Joan Miró believed it worthwhile to stage this exhibition, and they have tried to make it both interesting and attractive at the same time: illustrative, but also rewarding. A great deal of work has gone into creating this set of photographs, plans, models, drawings and sculptures that reflect urban planning projects with the same intention: to improve the quality of the urban landscape.
