Barcelona
Lluís Clotet
Ignacio Paricio
Carles Díaz
Pep Palaín
Enric Torrent and Jesús Jimenez
Robert Ayala and Gerardo Barrena
Lothar Cremer
Pere Valldepérez
Juan Bordes
Our work consisted of rehabilitating, modernizing, and expanding this universal gem of Art Nouveau architecture: the auditorium built in 1906 by Domènech i Montaner, which has not ceased to function for this purpose since then. During the first phase, which extended over several years, we restored severely damaged sections of the old building and equipped it with sanitary facilities, accessibility, safety, and comfort that would have been unforeseen a century ago.
However, our most significant contribution was giving the Palau a new entrance. We took advantage of part of the plot ceded by the unfinished –and unfinishable– neighboring church, which allowed us to open up part of the side courtyard, which had remained hidden –and surprisingly resolved by Domènech– with a richness comparable to that of the opposite facade. In the extension located next to the stage, we provided facilities for the artists: a rehearsal room, dressing rooms, changing rooms, and a library.
Since the nave of the church was shortened to nearly half of the planned depth, we proposed a mirrored transparente to visually double it (the subsequent demolition of the entire nave prevented us from verifying the intended effect).
Ciutat de Barcelona Restoration Prize 1989 of the Barcelona City Council
FAD Rehabilitation Award 1989
Finalist in the National Brick Architecture Award, 1988–1991
Photographs by Hisao Suzuki, Jaume Blasi and OTB