Travel with us to the origins of modern Barcelona!

Kids under 12 can come along for free. The entire walk is wheelchair accessible.

Duration

3 hours

About

This is a trip to the origins of the guidelines laid out by Ildefons Cerdà on the plan of Barcelona. He was responsible for designing a 133m x 133m grid without borders, hierarchies or suburbs that has given Barcelona the status of an advanced city. In the summer of 1859, a cramped, almost medieval Barcelona embarked on the journey of its expansion plan with the central government. The history of the project was marked by two historical events: the first involved the personal achievement of designer Ildefons Cerdà, who went beyond the specific reality of the time and created the General Theory of Urbanization; the second involved the city of Barcelona’s resistance to the plan and the plot to discredit the progressive-minded engineer. The tour starts in Plaça Universitat and gradually dives into Cerdà’s grid while we travel from the birth of cities to 21st- century Barcelona. We will see the Sant Antoni Market, the Sant Antoni Library by RCR architects (2017pritzker prize winners) and we will finish on the roof of Richard Rogers’ Las Arenes Mall Center, where we will reveal and analyze Barcelona’s future projects. As we wander through courtyards, avenues and squares to feel the pulse of local Barcelona, we’ll talk about communication and the Internet, ways and byways, enlightened despotism, 22@ and the infinite architectural richness of Cerdà’s Barcelona.