I am fully aware that more than one reader may feel disappointed when they discover that this article is about architecture. In fact, it may seem that I have chosen a headline with sexual connotations as a lure to attract more readers. That is, to put it in a more current way, that I resort to the most elemental clickbait to generate clicks. Forgive me, then, both if you expected to find an article about masculine attributes made in Barcelona and I have disappointed you, and if you feel that I have directly deceived you.
There are journalists who are very skilled at writing tempting headlines to incite you to open a certain news story, even if you know perfectly well that its content will not meet expectations. Quim Monzó, who is an old hand, occasionally spoils their fun via Twitter. He proclaims the content of the news, demonstrating that the information is neither as scandalous nor as morbid as the headline led one to believe, so that no other reader falls into the temptation to enter and, with their click, fattens the pockets of the media. A bit like taking the cheese out of the trap to prevent the mice from getting caught.
Having made this small introduction almost as an apology, what I want to talk about this week is the phallic architecture present in our city. That is, those buildings and monuments that, premeditatedly or not, constitute, by their shape, a phallic symbol. A few years ago, the Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya hosted a very interesting exhibition on sex in Roman times that showed how the phallus was profusely represented in public spaces as a symbol of fertility or a good luck charm. The same happened in ancient Greece. All this is now part of the past, but it is undeniable that we continue to erect ---be careful with this verb, which is already tricky--- towers, columns, sculptures, and skyscrapers with clearly phallic connotations.
If we had to choose the great phallic symbol of current Barcelona, everyone would undoubtedly agree that it is the Agbar Tower, designed by Jean Nouvel, who has always maintained that it is inspired by Gaudí and Montserrat. In any case, we could begin our route through Barcelona's phallic architecture with this 144-meter-high building, currently known as Torre Glòries, and which, starting next year, will open its viewpoint to the public.
If we had to choose the great phallic symbol of current Barcelona, everyone would undoubtedly agree that it is the Agbar Tower, designed by Jean Nouvel, who has always defended that it is inspired by Gaudí and MontserratIn the same Poblenou, we findthe Torre de les Aigües del Besòswhich, precisely, a few years ago hosted an exhibition on the sculptor and painter Josep Maria Subirachs, fascinated by the symbolism of towers in general and of this one, that of his neighborhood, in particular.
Shall we continue? Now we can walk by the sea and go to the end of Las Ramblas to admire the monument to Columbus ---described as a phallic symbol, for example, in La marge, a novel about the city's underworld written by the Frenchman André Pieyre de Mandiargues and with which he won the Goncourt in 1967---.
Afterwards we should go up to Plaça del Cinc d'Oros to see its obelisk and, perhaps, to finish, go towards Plaça Joan Miró to admire his Dona i ocell which, no matter how much woman and bird its name includes, is a phallic symbol as big as a house.
After this walk, we could ask ourselves if, architecturally, Barcelona is a phallocentric city ---to put it in Derrida's way--- and the answer could perfectly give rise to a very entertaining doctoral thesis on architecture.