They are among 55 Spanish and international names announced on 18 December by the organisers of The Liceu Mar International Architecture Competition, a project led by the Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Port of Barcelona.
Whoever wins the two-stage competition will design a cultural venue and surrounding landscaping on a 9,000m² waterfront site next to Port Vell. It will serve as a cultural hub for opera, dance, education and contemporary creation and as an extension of the Gran Teatre.
Other firms on the shortlist include: Swiss practice Herzog & de Meuron; Danish firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG); Spanish practice Bofill Arquitectura; US-based studio SOM; French firm Christian de Portzamparc; 2025 RIBA Royal Gold Medal winner SANAA; plus Japanese studios Toyo Ito, Kengo Kuma, and Shigeru Ban.
A number of Catalan studios have also been shortlisted. They are: Carme Pinós, Fermín Vázquez, Garcés, De Seta, Bonet Arquitectos, Alonso Balaguer, Pich Aguilera, Josep Llinàs, Batlle i Roig, Flexo, Jordi Badia, Mestres Wage Arquitectes and Mendoza.
The Liceu Mar International Architecture Competition was launched this summer to find a design team to transform the Plaça de l’Ictineo on the Montjuïc trade fair site on Barcelona’s waterfront – which hosted the International Expo of 1929 – into a second home for the Gran Teatre del Liceu.
Five teams will proceed to a second phase in February, when they must present an architectural proposal including a 1:500 volumetric model to the the jury, which will evaluate according to the criteria established in the competition brief.
The team that achieves the highest score in this phase will be commissioned to draft the Preliminary Design, the Basic Design of the building and urbanisation and civil works, as well as a ‘Special Plan’, with the possibility of extending to subsequent phases, such as the Executive Project and construction management, competition organisers say.
Finalist teams that correctly submit their proposals will each receive a compensation of €25,000.