From a hard square colonized by skaters and drinking bottles to a living space with green and play areas, shade, benches to rest or corners to play, more friendly and comfortable and above all in line with the needs of the 21st century. The transformation of Plaza dels Àngels, announced this Monday by Mayor Jaume Collboni, will be a reality between the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027, at which time two projects that have caused major neighborhood battles (the construction of a new CAP in the old Misericòrdia chapel and the extension of the Mabca) and which are ultimately what will lead to the remodeling of the “heart of the heart of the city”, in the words of Collboni.
The extension of the Macba in a new building attached to the convent dels Àngels should have been formalized in 2023, but the extra cost of the works (initially it was 11 million euros but has risen to 16.2) due to the increase in the cost of living derived from The war in Ukraine paralyzed the project. This waiting time has not only served to find financing, but also to respond, in principle, to the neighborhood complaints, who viewed with disdain that the center would grow at the expense of a public space (900 square meters) and demanded green spaces. in an area that almost triples the average population density of the city.
Finally, the solution adopted, in collaboration with the architectural studio of Richard Meier, author of the emblematic building inaugurated in 1995, involves eliminating the podium attached to the façade and currently colonized by skaters, with which the square would gain 1,105 square meters that would be They will be used for green spaces and living areas with benches and hammocks. In addition, the 349 square meter viewing terrace that will crown the new building designed by the team of Catalan architects HArquitectes and Swiss architects Christ
“The project is a virtuous symbiosis between culture, health and green areas,” Collboni summarized, “a 21st century square that responds to the demands of a city that has to face climate change [in addition to the shade of trees , will adopt mechanisms to take advantage of rainwater] and with which both “the residents of the Raval and the users of culture” will benefit.
“A city is a space that is never finished,” said Maria Buhigas, chief architect of the City Council, who denied that the remodeling of the space is a strategy to expel skaters, who generate insecurity and noise nuisance for residents. neighbors. “It is not a matter of throwing anyone out,” she says, but rather creating more comfortable and inclusive places, adapting them to new needs. The idea, she adds, is to generate “more transversal living areas for older people, young people and children.” In this same sense, the mayor insisted: “We do not want the public use of this space to be monopolized.”
Also for the director of Macba, Elvira Dyangani Ose, the expansion of the museum, which will gain 2,110 square meters for new exhibition rooms, gallery and facilities, will serve to bring the project closer to citizens and make the areas “more visible, accessible and permeable.” 6,000 works that are part of its collection and that currently cannot be exhibited due to lack of space.
The reconfiguration of Plaza dels Àngels will begin this June with the start of work on the CAP Raval Nord, which will have 2,500 square meters, an investment of 13 million euros and is scheduled to come into operation in the first quarter of 2026. The new Macba, for its part, plans to put out to tender the works in June and begin construction in November. If the deadlines are met, it will open its doors in January 2027. The cost, 16.2 million euros, will be assumed by the Fundació Macba, which will contribute 1.5 million, and the rest will be distributed among the different consortium institutions.
