From Gaud\u00ed\u2019s enduring legacy to contemporary interventions in public space and social housing, seven pieces from the AR\u2019s archive explore the city of Barcelona, free to read for registered users<\/p>\n
\u2018Barcelona is now in every way a remarkable hybrid, a city that looks confidently to the future rooted in a still vital past that is everywhere proudly present,\u2019 writes Peter Buchanan, in the wake of the 1992 Olympic and Paralympic games, reflecting on the city\u2019s architectural transformation. As the 2026 edition of the UIA World Congress of Architects takes place next week throughout Barcelona and the surrounding metropolitan area, the AR revisits a selection of writings on the Catalonian capital.<\/p>\n
From Gaud\u00ed\u2019s enduring legacy to contemporary interventions in public space and social housing, this week\u2019s reading list explores how Barcelona continues to regenerate itself. Questioning how the city\u2019s urban transformation has become politically charged, while celebrating the architectural innovations emerging from its constraints. These seven pieces trace the evolution of Barcelona across decades, revealing how the city balances heritage with radical new visions.<\/p>\n
The seven stories below are free to read for registered users for a limited period. Happy reading!<\/p>\n
Register for free<\/a> to read today and receive future AR Reading Lists straight to your inbox<\/p>\n Pla\u00e7a del Can\u00f2drom in Barcelona, Spain by Peris+Toral Arquitecte<\/a>s, AR June 2026, Rafael G\u00f3mez-Moriana
\u2018The result is a very intensely used public space that is highly versatile and exquisitely crafted\u2019<\/p>\n
Leading by Eixample: Barcelona, Spain<\/a>, AR February 2025, Ll\u00fais Ortega and Julia Capomaggi
\u2018The city\u2019s necessary urban transformation has become a political and electoral weapon\u2019<\/p>\n
Ghost storeys: Sala Beckett theatre in Barcelona, Spain by Flores & Prats<\/a>, AR December 2017\/January 2018,\u00a0 Douglas Murphy
\u2018Torn from their original contexts but retaining a memorial quality, they become less significant but almost more potent as design material\u2019<\/p>\n
Barcelona: a city regenerated<\/a>, AR August 1992, Peter Buchanan
\u2018The sense of seamless spatial and multi-temporal integration of the physical city extends to its life style too\u2019<\/p>\n
Timber revolution: Social housing in Barcelona, Spain, by Urbanitree<\/a>, AR September 2025, Eleanor Beaumont
\u2018The architectural innovation needed to prolong our existence on the planet is increasingly nurtured by low\u2011cost social housing \u2013 where constraints are the tightest but ambitions the most radical\u2019<\/p>\n