If we asked tourists about Catalan architecture, they would
probably think about art movements like Catalan Modernism, architects like Antoni
Gaudí and buildings like Sagrada Familia or La Pedrera. From these images, Catalan
architecture would seem very old-fashioned, even a sort of cultural fast food
for the masses. Probably, most people would agree that our architecture is out
of the mainstream of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Despite all these clichés, Catalan architecture offers an amazing catalogue of works by contemporary architects, from Josep Lluís Sert and Josep Antoni Coderch, pioneers of functionalism in Catalonia (and in Spain as a whole) to Ferrater, Moneo or Miralles in the last decades. Besides, Catalonia can be considered one of the cradles of Modern Architecture, hosting the 1920s and 1930s masterpieces of foreign architects like Mies Van der Rohe (the German Pavillion in Montjuïc) or Le Corbusier (Macià Plan for
Knowing
that, it could be argued that the usual images of Catalan architecture give an
incomplete impression. It seems to me that local authorities should enhance
Catalan contemporary architecture as a brand new offer for tourists and give
Gaudí some rest.
