The 1929 Centenary Commission works on the commemorative program
Call for the international architecture competition for the Montjuïc venue
The 1929 International Exhibition Centenary Commission has approved a competition of architectural projects for the remodeling of several halls of the Montjuïc venue. The decision was taken after the first meeting of the Commission, comprising the Barcelona City Council, the Government of Catalonia and Fira de Barcelona, which also approved an initiative to create a consortium for the management and promotion of commemorative activities and celebrations.
The international architecture competition will be launched on May 15 and is aimed at transforming the Montjuïc venue into an urban, modern and iconic European venue. In this sense, the projects that promote an optimization of the fair facilities, to make them more modern, flexible and versatile, under the parameters of efficiency, digitization and sustainability of the 21st century, will be highly valued.
It comprises three areas of action. On of them includes the renovation and enlargement of Hall 1 and the construction of the new Multifunctional Hall to be built on the site of the current Hall 4 and Palau de Congressos. The new facility, with 19,500 m² of exhibition space, will consist of two floors and will be designed to host trade shows, congresses and corporate events. It will be a new emblematic building, a benchmark of current architectural trends, which will be integrated into the Avinguda Maria Cristina axis.
A different area covers the design of the new Palau de Congressos to be built in the current Palau Alfons XIII. The new building will preserve the catalogued historical elements and develop a modern facility on top of them, with a large-capacity auditorium.
The plan also includes the transformation of the old Palau del Vestit, now part of Hall 8, to house the Fira Innovation Hub where large companies, SMEs, startups, research centers and universities will be able to develop innovative solutions in industries such as smart cities, food, audiovisual and technology, where the trade fair institution has a leading international position through its events.
The first phase of works, which includes the construction of the new Multifunctional Hall and the transformation of the Alfons XIII Hall, requires an investment of more than 215 M€, which will be executed through Fira 2000. Likewise, the works on the Palau del Vestit will have an estimated Jury of recognized prestige of €40 million.
Prestigious jury of recognized reputation
In order to select the winning proposals in each of the three areas, in accordance with the Catalan Architecture Act, a two-stage selection process will be carried out. In the first phase, the technical and economic reliability of the international architectural teams participating will be assessed and five teams will be selected per each area of activity.
In the second phase, a jury made up of internationally renowned architects chaired by Josep Lluis Mateo, author of projects such as the CCIB and the Filmoteca de Catalunya, among others, will review the projects and select the winner in each of the three areas. The selected teams will develop the basic and executive projects. The works are expected to be completed in 2029, coinciding with the celebration of the Centenary.
The process also includes the involvement of a Technical Committee made up of professionals in the fields of urban planning and historical heritage who will assess the jury.
Other agreements adopted today by the Centenary Commission include the creation of a working group for the constitution of a Consortium in charge of the economic, technical and administrative management of the Centenary, as well as the execution of the program of commemorative activities that will comprise initiatives in the social, economic, cultural and urbanistic fields. These actions will take the form of events, exhibitions, congresses, shows and singular projects that will create a legacy.
For the design of this first phase of the program of commemorative activities, as well as to work on the legacy projects, a group of experts will be gathered including the former Manager of the Teatre del Liceu and Macba, Gemma Sendra; the former Director of Macba and the Reina Sofia Museum, Manuel Borja-Villel; the businesswoman and Councilor of Fira de Barcelona, Helena Guardans; the Founder of the Institut de Ciències Fotòniques (ICFO), Lluís Torner; the former Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations for Communication, Cristina Gallach; the Rector of the Pompeu Fabra University, Laia de Nadal; the CEO of Tourism of Barcelona, Mateu Hernández; the Director of the CCCB, Judit Carrera; the president of the MNAC, Joan Oliveras; the Associate Director of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Josep Maria Martorell and the General Manager of Cultural Heritage of the Government of Catalonia, Sònia Fernández.
Transversal Commission
The Centenary Commission, which today held its first meeting following its constitution last December, is made up of 12 representatives of the three founding institutions: Government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council and Fira de Barcelona.
Representing the Government of Catalonia are the Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent i Ramió; the Minister of Economy and Finance, Natàlia Mas Guix; the Minister of Territory, Ester Capella i Farré, and the Minister of Culture, Natàlia Garriga Ibáñez. From the city council, the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni; the first Deputy Mayor, Laia Bonet, the fourth Deputy Mayor, Jordi Valls, and the Councilor of the Sants-Montjuïc district, Raquel Gil. The representatives of Fira de Barcelona are the President of the Board of Directors, Pau Relat, and Pedro Fontana, Helena Guardans and Miquel Martí, members of the Board of the trade fair institution.