The Montjuïc exhibition center unveils its new face. With an eye on celebrating its centenary in 2029, the winning proposals for the reform that will modernize its facilities have just been announced, with work expected to begin early next year. The Fira complex will transition to a new design that is more open to its surroundings and full of greenery, leaving behind the inaccessible monumentality that has characterized it in its first 100 years of life. "It has to become a facility on a human and urban scale," remarks the chief architect of the Barcelona City Council, Maria Buhigas.
The city council, the Generalitat, and Fira de Barcelona announced this Monday the architecture firms that will undertake the first phase of the reform of the Montjuïc exhibition center, which will act on different areas of the venue but not all of them in order to maintain exhibition activity. With a budget of 255 million euros, the works will involve demolishing existing structures, such as the Palau de Congressos de Barcelona, where a completely new building will be erected. A multifunctional palace will be built, designed to host any type of event, and it will be done hand in hand with the Chilean architect Smiljan Radic and local architects Miquel Mariné Núñez, Beatriz Borque, and César Rueda Bonet. It will add a total of 20,500 square meters spread over two floors.
For Buhigas, the winning proposal manages to break the large dimension of this building through transparency, with a lot of glass that makes its interior more open and permeable. Located on the left side of Avenida de la Reina Maria Cristina viewed from Plaza Espanya, the most characteristic element of the new building will be an elevated walkway inhabited by trees along more than 2,000 square meters. It will connect this palace with the one next to it, which touches Plaza Espanya and will be reformed starting in 2029 in a second phase of the reform.
Very close by is the Alfons XIII Palace, on the left side of the Montjuïc fountain. Now empty, this is where the new Palau de Congressos will be located. With a Barcelona stamp, the firms Forgas Arquitectes ---responsible for the new Modelo and the reform of the Teatre Kursaal in Manresa--- and Archambac are behind the winning proposal, along with architect Álvaro Fernández García.
Its approach will respect the external structure designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch while completely changing its interior, where natural light will enter. In addition, it will feature a patio-garden, an auditorium with capacity for more than 2,000 people, an exhibition hall, and meeting rooms. There will even be nods to the vaults of the Valencian architect Rafael Guastavino. Buhigas highlights its "beauty, simplicity, and elegance."
The first phase of the renovation of the Montjuïc exhibition palaces will be complemented by the creation of the Fira Innovation Hub, a space that will bring together under one roof large companies, SMEs, startups, research centers, and universities to find new business avenues. It will be located in a part of the current palace 8 of Fira Montjuïc, located on the right side of Avenida de la Reina Maria Cristina.
The future innovation center will involve the construction of a three-story Z-shaped building, surrounded by green spaces open to the public. In this proposal, the most groundbreaking element will be the conversion of the current columns on the facade. Now purely decorative, they will become the entrance to the gardens inside. Also noteworthy will be the change to the facade facing Gran Via, which will be sawtooth-shaped and crowned by skylights, allowing light to illuminate the interior. This last piece will be designed by the Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group, known for having conceived the Lego House, and the Barcelona-based MIAS Arquitectura, founded by Josep Miàs, who has signed projects such as the new Tibidabo funicular, the Cuca de Llum.
"The three winners did so unanimously," Buhigas asserts. More than 120 studios submitted to the international architecture competition to renovate Barcelona's exhibition grounds. Among all the candidacies, 15 firms were chosen to present their proposal for the final phase. With the three winners selected, it is now time to commission the projects.
Demolitions will begin in December to start construction in 2026, with the forecast that everything will be finished by 2029. The budget for the first phase of the works will be divided between 215 million euros for the new Palau de Congressos and multifunctional palace, assumed by Fira 2000, and 40 million euros for the Barcelona Innovation Hub, contributed by Fira de Barcelona. The second phase of the works, planned between 2029 and 2035, will involve an investment of 160 million euros.
The presentation of the winning proposals was attended by the Minister of Industry and former mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu, who said that the Government wants to be part of the reform of the Montjuïc exhibition center. "We want to be with you," he stressed. He was accompanied by the Minister of Economy, Alícia Romero, and the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni. "Today is a great day for the city and for Fira," said Collboni. "We are taking a big step," added the president of Fira de Barcelona, Pau Relat.
The transformation that will take place at Fira will not be the only one Montjuïc will experience. The city council wants Plaza de Espanya to be crossed through its interior and to give new impetus to the Olympic Ring, that is, "to embrace Montjuïc," as Collboni defines it. All this with an eye on the expansion of the MNAC, also about to unveil the winners of its international architecture competition.