Call for an architectural competition for the remodelling of the venue
Barcelona will celebrate the centenary of the 1929 International Exposition
On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the 1929 International Exposition, the Government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council and Fira de Barcelona have agreed to set up a Commission tasked with promoting a series of events and initiatives to commemorate the milestone and contribute to renewing its innovative and transformational spirit. The Commission will also perform the role of promoting and monitoring the project to revamp the Montjuïc venue. In this regard, the call for an international architectural competition to select the projects for the new exhibition halls was announced today.
The creation of the Centenary Commission was announced today at an event held in the Palau de Congressos de Barcelona at the Montjuïc venue. It was attended by Jaume Collboni, Mayor of Barcelona, Roger Torrent i Ramió, Minister of Business and Labour, Pau Relat, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fira de Barcelona, and Constantí Serrallonga, its General Manager. It was also attended, among other authorities, by Núria Marín, Mayoress of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Ester Capella i Farré and Natàlia Garriga Ibáñez, Ministers of Territory and Culture, Laia Bonet and Jordi Valls, Deputy Mayors of Barcelona City Council, Albert Dalmau, the City Council’s Municipal Manager, and Oriol Sagrera i Saula, Secretary General of the Department of Business and Labour, as well as other representatives of the Catalan political, social, business and cultural spheres.
The Commission’s main tasks will be to promote a celebration that renews the values of the Barcelona of 1929 as the capital of innovation and modernity and to engage the general public. To achieve these goals, it will work in partnership with other key players in the city, including cultural institutions, companies and the local community. It will thus define a project that encompasses initiatives in the social, economic, cultural and urbanistic areas, embodying them in trade fair activities, exhibitions, congresses, shows and so on.
Mayor of Barcelona Jaume Collboni stressed that, as a result of the 1929 Universal Exposition, “the city became aware of its greatness and capabilities and underwent a profound social, economic and urban transformation” and emphasised what the major changes to Montjuïc should entail, “turning it into a true metropolitan central park, making the Mountain of Museums a reality, reinforcing the mountain of sports and carefully monitoring how it offers itself to the neighbourhoods of Poble-sec and La Font de la Guatlla, given that one feature of the fairground is that it lies within the urban fabric, in the district of Sants-Montjuïc”. Finally, he announced the holding of an international architectural competition to physically transform the fairground and underlined that “Barcelona has the vocation to become a benchmark for new architecture and iconic buildings”.
In his words, Minister of Business and Labour Roger Torrent i Ramió recalled that, with the commemoration of the 1929 Exposition,“we want to renew its initial spirit, its desire to modernise the country and make Catalonia an international flagship of industry and innovation”. Torrent explained that the 1929 Exposition “endowed the city with new facilities, symbols that remain, and infrastructures that promoted its growth” and emphasised that “it had a tractor effect on the country’s economy”. In view of the above, the Minister of Business and Labour expressed his wish that the commemoration of the centenary will constitute “an engine of transformation with a positive effect on the country’s economic, social and cultural spheres”.
As for Pau Relat, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fira de Barcelona, he declared that “this project once again demonstrates how the sum total of our endeavours and the joint work of the main institutions can help us to move forward. It’s time to compile the testimonies of the people at the forefront of an unstoppable transformation 100 years ago and, with the fairground as the epicentre, generate further momentum for Barcelona and the country as a whole together”.
A new transformation
The celebration of the centenary of the 1929 Exposition will coincide with a further urbanistic transformation of the Montjuïc venue to modernise the trade fair facilities, meet its needs in terms of culture, housing, mobility and green areas and combine the trade fair activity with other uses for citizens.
In this respect, after completing a participatory process last year and the relevant urban planning approval procedures this year, it was announced today that four architectural competitions will be held next spring for the construction of a new congress centre in the Alfonso XIII Pavilion, the creation of a large and modern multi-purpose hall in the current Palau de Congressos, part of Plaça Univers and the refurbishment of Palace 1, and the remodelling of two parts of the current Palace 8 (Metallurgy Palace and Clothing Palace).
The renovation of the venue, which will entail investment totalling 174 million euros managed and financed through the Fira 2000 company, envisages the optimisation of the trade fair facilities by means of the updating and conservation of its listed historical buildings under the parameters of efficiency, digitisation and sustainability, with a renovated Reina Maria Cristina Avenue intended for pedestrians and public transport. It will be a unique urban facility for the 21st century and an international benchmark.
A global showcase
The International Exposition in Barcelona in 1929 had a significant impact on the city and represented a key moment in its history. It was conceived as a celebration of industry, technology and culture, and Barcelona took the chance to showcase its achievements and aspirations to the world.
The event left an architectural, urban and innovative legacy that transformed the city, including the development of Montjuïc as the epicentre of the exposition, a site where numerous halls and iconic structures were built, such as the Palau Nacional (Mnac), the Teatre Grec, the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, the Poble Espanyol and the Olympic Stadium, which have all survived until today.
Cross-cutting commission
The Centenary Commission, the founding protocol of which was signed today, will be made up of a total of twelve representatives from the three institutions involved. On behalf of the City Council, it will feature Jaume Collboni, the Mayor of Barcelona, Laia Bonet, First Deputy Mayor and Councillor for the Area of Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing, Jordi Valls, Fourth Deputy Mayor and Councillor for the Area of Economy, Finance, Economic Promotion and Tourism, and Raquel Gil, Councillor for the Sants-Montjuïc district. The Government of Catalonia will be represented by Roger Torrent i Ramió, the Minister of Business and Labour, Natàlia Mas Guix, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Ester Capella i Farré, the Minister of Territory, and Natàlia Garriga Ibáñez, the Minister of Culture. The representatives of Fira de Barcelona will be Pau Relat, Chairman of its Board of Directors, Pedro Fontana, Helena Guardans and Miquel Martí.
Similarly, there will be a Steering Committee responsible for implementing all the initiatives that are envisaged. This committee will be chaired by Albert Dalmau, the City Council’s Municipal Manager, the deputy chairman will be Oriol Sagrera i Saula, Secretary General of the Department of Business and Labour, and the executive chairman will be Constantí Serrallonga, the general manager of Fira de Barcelona.
Photos here
Barcelona, 11 December 2023
Communication Department
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