Olympic Legacies
Overall aim: To explore the impact of the Olympic Games in driving the regeneration and redevelopment of Barcelona.
The transformation of the city
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona were one of the major urban transformations that the city has gone through throughout its history.
Mountain of Montjuïc
The event involved the remodeling of part of the mountain of Montjuďc, with the creation of the so-called Olympic Ring, designed by Carles Buxadé, Joan Margarit, Federico Correa and Alfons Milŕ, where existing sports facilities were remodeled, such as the Montjuďc Olympic Stadium or the Piscinas Picornell, and new facilities were built, such as the Palacio de Sant Jordi or the National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia. New building: Sant Jordi Palace, INEFC, L'Espanya Industrial Pavilion Remodeled: Olympic Stadium, Bernat Picornell Swimming Pools, Montjuďc Pool, Barcelona Sports Palace The Olympic Village of Poblenou and the Front Marítim One of the major urban changes, which modified the day to day of the city, was the remodeling of the entire maritime area of ??Barceloneta and Poblenou, the area destined for the Olympic Village, where the athletes stayed during the games. With a Martorell-Bohigas-Mackey-Puigdomčnech project, the coastal railway had to be buried, a new port (Olympic Port) was built, a new neighborhood was built and new road axes were drawn. The change of this area of ??the city was linked to the regeneration of the beaches of the city, which was one of the great milestones of the transformation of Barcelona: opening the city to the sea and bringing it closer to the people of Barcelona. The change was so great that it modified the way citizens related to their coast. Also in this area we must take into account the construction of the new Port Vell, with a project by Jordi Henrich and Olga Tarrasó, which included the current Maremagnum and the pivoting footbridge. New construction: Olympic Port, Pavilion of the Beautiful Sea Remodeled: Polideportivo Estació del Nord and Frontó Colom Vall d'Hebron The neighborhood of the Vall d'Hebron was the third great stage of sports events that went through a complete remodeling. With the project of Eduard Bru, the reorganization of the neighborhood involved the combination of green areas, large axes and sports facilities of the Olympic Games. New construction: Field of Archery, Pavilion of the Vall d'Hebron, Tennis of the Vall d'Hebron The new rounds The Olympic Games in Barcelona also involved the construction of the Litoral and Dalt rounds along the perimeter of the city, as well as the knots of the Trinitat and Llobregat, which contributed significantly to the traffic of the city. Planned by Josep Acebillo and Alfred Morales, the two new rounds were added to the already existing round of the Mig crossing the city. Other performances The great performances were accompanied by other complementary urban actions, such as the creation of new parks and gardens, among others, the Mirador del Migdia park, the Poblenou park, the Carles I park, the Cascades park, the park of the Port Olímpic or Nova Icŕria. In the collective imagination, the campaign "Barcelona, ??ponte guapa", which from 1986 to 1992 favored the restoration of facades, continues to have a prominent presence. Finally, the city experienced a revolution with respect to large telecommunications infrastructures. The Communications Tower of Collserola, designed by Norman Foster, and the Communications Tower of Montjuďc, by Santiago Calatrava, were built, apart from the installation of 150 kilometers of optical fiber in the subsoil of the city. Objectives: 1. To observe the nature of urban environments within Barcelona, focusing in particular on Port Olimpic, Poblenou and Glňries; 2. To explore how Port Olimpic, Poblenou and Glňries have undergone processes of urban renewal and regeneration; 3. To consider how culture-led regeneration is used to transform urban environments to deliver urban renewal and revitalization. Please read the following background and instructions, and complete the worksheet attached. Background: Mega-events and cultural strategies have become commonly deployed as a way to promote and enable the redevelopment and renewal of contemporary cities. In particular, Olympic Games are often advocated as a tool to regenerate (the process of remaking urban environments) cities. For Barcelona, the 1992 Olympic Games brought with it the opportunity to transform run-down, derelict and industrial areas within the city. The ambitious strategies to redevelop and regenerate Barcelona have been commonly associated with a ‘Barcelona Model’, heralded as a model for delivering urban renewal across other cities. Acting as a catalyst to deliver necessary infrastructure required to regenerate the city, the cities’ Olympic Games investment programme included: the renovation of the Olympic stadium and the construction of a sports pavilion; building a motorway ring and highway infrastructure; delivering 4500 new housing units; extending the airport; delivering new cultural facilities; and renewing 110 hectares of parks and 5km of new beaches. In particular, the city council used this mega-event as an opportunity to transform the waterfront area, and the industrial area of Poblenou. The waterfront has since been transformed into a marina and tourist destination, whilst Poblenou, a former industrial area described as the ‘Catalan Manchester’, has been refashioned into a technology and innovation district. Following a period of decay after its industrial heyday for textiles and automobiles, Poblenou has since been rebranded as 22@ Barcelona, and is now the home of Barcelona’s knowledge economy (an economy dependent on knowledge, information and high-level skills). Whilst the Olympic Park is now a popular tourist destination, the waterfront and Poblenou areas provide prominent examples of how the Olympic Games were used as a tool to deliver regeneration across the city. Although the Barcelona model has been widely praised for delivering the renewal and revitalization of many of Barcelona’s run down areas, it has also been heavily criticized for transforming the city into a tourist haven, and for creating segregated and unaffordable places within the city. Methods/Instructions: For this project, we will be conducting in-depth observations of the waterfront, Poblenou and Glňries. Drawing upon the qualitative method of observation, each group will use their observations and reflections to consider how these urban environments have been transformed and undergone processes of regeneration. Beginning at Port Olimpic, and finishing at Glňries, each group will conduct a walking tour in order to examine the contemporary context of these urban environments. Following an introductory briefing at Port Olimpic, each group will explore and observe the marina area, before using the map provided below in order to navigate their way through and examine Poblenou, finishing at Glňries. Following the map provided below, each group will select their own route from Port Olimpic, through Poblenou to Glories, in order to explore and consider the urban renewal that now characterizes these places. In doing so, each group should observe the surrounding areas, the built environment, the architecture, the businesses and facilities in the area, and how these places are used by different consumers.