Filling Void. Feeling Fira

Abstract

Montjuïc has evolved, through the last 100 years, to be part of Barcelona at a social and urban level, apart from the strategic, military or functional one. The turning point that made this area begin to be at the citizens’ minds, as a space for leisure and culture, was the 1929 International Exposition, when, for the first time, an intense effort was made to open the Gran Via to the west-southern exit of Barcelona. Today, the legacy of that exhibition is still quite present. Although the most important volume of the international fairs has been relocated, the remaining pavilions and buildings are still used, sometimes for Fira de Barcelona, but in many other cases for social activities and different conventions. Besides, it is unquestionable to see how this area has also become a cultural centre, as there are several important museums in the proximity, although there is still no urbanistic plan to unify them as a reference museum area in Barcelona. The entrance to Montjuïc from Plaça Espanya is nowadays a path that both tourists and the inhabitants of Barcelona cross to reach the spectacular views, but only some of them stay to spend time if there is not an important event, especially in the section between the Font Màgica and the MNAC. Therefore, the project aims to use the Victòria Eugènia and Alfons XIII palaces for a new Museum of Architecture and Art, where, in addition to exhibitions, archives, and other typical uses in a museum, the program will be expanded to complement it with spaces for creation and dialogue. By three strategies, the project starts taking shape from what both buildings already offer us. Thus, with Gordon Matta-Clark as a reference, the first action is to embrace the immense empty space contained in the two palaces and opening it in strategic points to make it accessible to the city. Secondly, and with Louis Kahn’s help, a new modular structural system that embraces the existing structure is introduced, adapting the program to a more human scale. This structure contains all the furniture, storage and activity of the project, and is also the transition between public and private spaces. Finally, the introduction of the activity that will be developed in this project is fundamental, because it is the one that will determine what new life these palaces will have. The main intention of the intervention is to light a new focus of activity between both pavilions, which will generate movement in the city from inside so that they encourage the local and international population to stay in this place, and that, on the other hand, could be the beginning of a possible project to unify all the museums of Montjuïc.