BARCELONA CELEBRATES ARCHITECTURE WEEKS 2024
Once again, the city of Barcelona is hosting Architecture Weeks 2024 from 14 May to 28 June. This time the event will last for seven weeks.
This annual event has become a benchmark for architects, designers, students, and architecture lovers from all over the world. Architecture Weeks not only provide a platform to showcase the best of contemporary and traditional architecture, but also to encourage debate on the future of urban design and sustainability.
Architecture Weeks in Barcelona have their roots in the need to celebrate and reflect on the city’s architectural legacy. This event has grown since its first edition in 2017, attracting leading architecture and design professionals, as well as a wider audience interested in the evolution of the urban landscape. Now the programme has been extended to allow the participation of many more entities and to promote the spread of architectural activity, knowledge, experience, and debate throughout the city.
A FULL PROGRAMME OF EXHIBITIONS, EVENTS, AND GUIDED TOURS
The 2024 edition promises to be one of the most dynamic to date, with a packed calendar of more than 180 activities. Exhibitions will highlight both historical projects and recent innovations. Among them, the interior design exhibition “Energy. Designing in Positive” exhibits the final projects of the graduating students in the Advanced Artistic Education Programme in Design at the European Design Institute in Barcelona. These projects explore how to create, store, optimise, and improve the energy of sustainable spaces.
One of the central themes of Architecture Weeks 2024 will be sustainability. At a time when climate change and rapid urbanisation pose major challenges, green architecture and sustainable design are crucial solutions. Practices such as the use of recycled materials, energy efficiency in buildings, and the design of urban spaces that promote biodiversity will be explored.
The various activities also include different itineraries and guided tours of the city. In addition to itineraries focusing on modern architecture, such as the guided tour of Plaça de les Glòries and the innovation district, there are also itineraries that cover Modernist Barcelona.
Pabellón Mies van der Rohe en Barcelona. Fotografía de Timo Christ. Alamy Stock Photo.
One of our favourites is the tour through the Barcelona of Lluís Domènech i Montaner. This route passes by some of his most outstanding works, such as Casa Fuster, Casa Lleó Morera, Casa Thomas, and Castell dels Tres Dragons.
The finale of the tour is one of his most emblematic projects: Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau, which we talked about in this blog in 2022. This Art Nouveau site designed by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997. Today, it is an international benchmark and has made the architect one of the greatest exponents of modernist architecture.
ENERO ARQUITECTURA’S HEALTHCARE ARCHITECTURE ITINERARY FOR THESE WEEKS
The ENERO Arquitectura office in Barcelona joins in on these Architecture Weeks to talk about the healthcare architecture projects that are in progress and to suggest our own particular itinerary.
First, the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, where we are carrying out two interventions: the renovation of the Intensive Care Unit, which is already in the construction phase, and the renovation of the surgical block in pavilion 7.6 of the Seu Villaroel, which is in the project phase.
Another essential visit to a building in which we have had the good fortune to intervene is the Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau. Here, we have finalised the intervention for the new biplane interventional radiology equipment, focusing the renovation on ensuring the well-being of patients as they move through the different areas. We are currently renovating the administrative spaces, focusing on an optimised design. The terrace, which has now been completed, will be used as a respite area for healthcare staff.
You can also have a look at the various other healthcare architecture projects that we are involved with. We are continuing work at the General Hospital of Catalonia, the Sagrat Cor Hospital, and the El Pilar Hospital.
We would like to take this opportunity to highlight another of our recently opened healthcare architecture projects: the Quironsalud Hospital in Badalona. This is a project in which the humanisation of the spaces and the entry of natural light through its central courtyard are emphasised.
To complete the itinerary, this list of projects underway in Barcelona is joined by the comprehensive renovation of the Fraternidad-Muprespa healthcare centre, located in Plaza de Tetuán, where work has just been completed.
We are proud to be able to contribute to these emblematic buildings in Barcelona with an architecture focused on well-being and patient care. We encourage you to visit them in the coming weeks.
Patio interior del Hospital Quirónsalud Badalona. Fotografía de Jorge Allende