What can be seen this weekend at the 48H Open House Barcelona?

This weekend, the 48H Open House Barcelona returns for another year, an opportunity to explore the inner workings of emblematic buildings in the city that are not usually open to the public, as well as to discover the secrets of others that were not even known to exist. This Saturday and Sunday, a total of 185 buildings will be accessible with free guided tours, most of them located in the Catalan capital, but also with the option of taking a stroll through L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Sant Joan Despí, Badalona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Vilassar de Dalt, and Sitges. In this edition, already the thirteenth, about fifty new properties have been added, including Torre Mapfre, Casa Tosquella, the Julio Muñoz Ramonet Foundation, and Palau Montaner, headquarters of the Government Delegation.

The architecture festival achieved an attendance record in 2021 with 65,000 visitors, a figure they hope to match this year, given the high level of registrations they are detecting. In fact, the 24 spaces that require prior registration to visit have already sold out. Among them, Torre Mapfre, which allocated 1,100 tickets in just over four minutes from the opening of registrations. For those who missed out on a ticket, the organization asks for patience and reminds them that, when a building arouses so much passion, it is included again in the following edition. That's what happened with visits to La Modelo, with long queues and waits in the first edition, but with a much more relaxed demand now. Below is a list of some of the surprises that this year's 48H Open House Barcelona has in store.

• Torre Mapfre

One of the most anticipated openings in this edition will be that of Torre Mapfre. The panoramic views it offers will be appreciated by the 1,100 lucky ones who managed to reserve a ticket and be quick on the registration page, with visits on Saturday from 10 in the morning to 7 in the evening. A debut at the 48H Open House Barcelona that coincides with the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Olympic Games, responsible for the urban planning project of the Vila Olímpica that served to open the city to the sea. With 43 floors and 154 meters high, the second tallest building in the city, Torre Mapfre has become one of Barcelona's icons and even a setting for its novels, with examples such asWe do not close in August(Libros del Asteroide) by Eduardo Palomares. Architects Íñigo Ortiz and Enrique de León were in charge of its construction, based on a central core of reinforced concrete, a perimeter of pillars set back from the facade plane, and inclined glass for its enclosure. At the base, in the shape of a sail, there is a space currently occupied by the KBr Photography Center and, for those who want to complete the visit, they can take the opportunity to discoverto the American photographer Carrie Mae Weems.

• Cloudworks La Rambla - Drassanes (Colón Building)

Without prior registration and with visits on Sunday from 10 in the morning to 7 in the evening, the architecture festival will allow access to the 15th, 23rd and 24th floors of the Colón Building, where the Cloudworks La Rambla - Drassanes flexible office space is located. Thecoworking, with a terrace included, is set in a brutalist-style building crowned with an inverted concrete pyramid. With a total of 28 floors and 110 meters in height, it will also allow enjoying good views of the city and, especially, its old town. Designed by architect Josep Anglada, it was built in 1970 and became the tallest building in the city, surpassing the Torre Jaime I, and the first to exceed 100 meters in height. Its leadership was not surpassed until the construction of the Hotel Arts and the Torre Mapfre. For those who want to see more offices ofcoworking in emblematic spaces of the city, they can also approach a work by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, the Casa de les Punxes, currently with flexible workspaces also managed by Cloudworks. Its visit also does not require prior registration and can only be visited on Saturday, from 10 in the morning until 7 in the evening.

• Casa Tosquella

This modernist jewel with Arabic touches has been unoccupied since 2012 and the years and lack of maintenance have taken their toll on the building and its immense garden. Last year, the City Councilbought itfor 1.15 million euros with the will to preserve the property, considered a historical monument and a national heritage asset, as well as to offer public facilities to the Putxet and Farró neighborhood. The estate, located in a block formed by Ballester, Vallirana, and General Mitre streets, was commissioned by the merchant Antoni Tosquella to master builder Juan Caballé as a summer house in 1889 when he returned from America. Later, between 1907 and 1908, it was renovated by Eduard M. Balcells i Buigas, one of the last architects of modernism. It can be visited this weekend without prior registration, from 10 in the morning until 7 in the evening.

• Julio Muñoz Ramonet Foundation

The Julio Muñoz Ramonet estate on Muntaner street can be enjoyed on Saturday and Sunday from 10 in the morning until 7 in the evening, without prior registration. After a long legal dispute with the family, the Barcelona city council obtained the keys to the property in 2013, but it was not until last year whenannouncedits transformation into a center dedicated to culture, art, and science. The former Palace of the Marquès d'Alella was built between 1917 and 1921 and remains practically intact, with the main house and the tower designed by Enric Sagnier i Villavecchia, as well as the original garden by Joan Mirambel, based on Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier's project and recently restored maintaining its original spirit. Still unresolved is the conflict between the City Council and his descendants over the delivery of the artworks accumulated by Muñoz Ramonet, among them, the collection he acquired from the fund of the businessman Ròmul Bosch i Catarineu deposited in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya during the Republic.

• Escuela Industrial

After the novelties of this edition of the 48H Open House Barcelona, it is also worth highlighting other visits that have been possible in previous years but are still worth recommending again. Among them, the historic site of the Escuela Industrial. Without prior registration and with a free itinerary on Sunday from 10 in the morning until 7 in the evening, the architecture festival will allow scrutiny of the corners of the old cotton spinning factory Can Batlló, conceived following the model of industrial colonies, with workshops and residences for workers distributed in four blocks of the Eixample and with the stamp of the architect Rafael Guastavino and his famous vaults.The factory remained closed from 1889 to 1908, when the site was acquired by the Barcelona Provincial Council, which is now planning an ambitious renovation. This year, visitors will be able to see the Clock Building, the School of Work, the Carpentry workshop and the Chemistry laboratory and its magnificent chimney, 62.5 meters high, one of the tallest in Catalonia. It's a shame that its recently inaugurated assembly hall was not included.

• TMB's depots in the ZAL

Many will not hesitate to choose the depots that TMB has in the Logistics Activities Zone (ZAL), from where the trains of lines L9 and L10 of the Barcelona metro, the most modern lines of the network, are prepared. Someday they will also become the longest whenthe works to connect the two ends are finished, going from El Prat de Llobregat to Santa Coloma de Gramenet. This visit, with prior registration, no longer has available tickets. The visiting hours will be from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

• Vitralls Bonet

The Cultural District of L'Hospitalet de Llobregathosts a workshop responsible for some of Barcelona's most emblematic stained glass windows, such as those of the Sagrada Família and Casa Batlló. Founded in 1923, Vitralls Bonet was located on Asturias Street in the Gràcia neighborhood until 2017, when it moved to an old industrial building in the metropolitan city. Visits during this weekend, on Saturday at 11 and 12 in the morning, will allow visitors to see how the artisans work, with little-known methods and materials, even though their history dates back to the Middle Ages. Works made by the workshop's workers can be contemplated, starting fromprojects by artists such as Grau-Garriga, Will Faber, Perico Pastor, Tano Pisano or Daríus Vilàs. No prior registration is required.