Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona

Plaça dels Àngels, 1
Barcelona, Spain

Contributed by Project for Public Spaces

This art museum is a terrifically successful skateboard park that draws skaters from all over Catalonia.

Why It Doesn't Work

This was such a tragic missed opportunity. This art museum could be such a fantastic public gathering place for the diverse Raval community that surrounds it, an expression of contemporary art to add a special quality to a dense urban neighborhood, and a bringing together of people from all over the world for a combination of art, culture, and local residents. Instead, it is a terrifically successful skateboard park that draws skaters from all over Catalonia.

We liked the architecture and the exhibition spaces, although the art itself was lackluster enough that there were more people looking at the skateboarding outside than inside the entire museum. What could be a great example of a contemporary building fitting into an ancient walled city and contributing to its community life and culture is instead truly out of place.

As with so many buildings of this ilk, the main problems were few uses on the ground floor (to engage and attract pedestrians), and an insistence that the plaza design reflect the minimalist building design. A purely visual space invites only purely one-dimensional uses. Suburban buildings relish making a big design statement – and they have the space to do so (for better or worse). Urban buildings need to support dynamic human activity, and therefore need appropriate and sensitive design. Apparently, the architect did not understand that responsibility.

Contact Info:

Tel: 34-93-412-08-10

User Comments:

> Add your own comment about Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona

12/10/03 Brandon Smith said:: Why does the writer of this article have such a negative tone towards skateboarding? Skateboarders are some of the most creative and artistic people on the planet, as is demonstrated in their uncanny ability to look at nearly any structure and see some sort of potential that is invisible to the average person. What sort of appreciator of art is one who condemns those with a different style of expression?
01/28/04 Giselle Sperber said:: Isn't a space for skateboarders better than an empty plaza? The photos show a space full of activity and people. Granted, the space provides for only one community group, the skateboarders, but that's better than nothing.
03/28/04 toni soler said:: Though it is true that skateboarders have a too high presence in the square, this place is always full of activity and people. It's truly not a hall of shame public space.
05/24/04 nate smith said:: If I wasn't a skateboarder I wouldn't have known what skateboarders call "MACBA" is. I wouldn't have cared. I don’t know what kind of "rival" community you’re talking about. The author obviously doesn’t know what kind of community the skateboarders are. MACBA along with Sants train station have been in hundreds of skateboard videos. Any current day video MACBA and Sants will be in it once at the very least. Skaters, professional and non-professional alike, have traveled from all over the world to skateboard in those plazas. This is because Barcelona is rated by many to be the best place to skateboard in the world.
08/31/04 alex g. said:: I just went to Barcelona a month ago and I loved it. I skated everyday. I stayed at the Barcelo Sants and skated every night and day at the "Estacia Sants" - it was absolutely fantastic!! If some of you guys went there please contact at ageahel_91@hotmail.com. I wanna discuss this spot with guys who went there!!
11/10/04 andrea hamann said:: You say there needs to be an expression of contemporary art to add a special quality to a dense urban neighborhood? The day I was at the 'Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona' there was this most amazing contemporary dance performance in the plaza. Sorry to contradict you, but it made for the most amazing performance space. With the backdrop of the contemporary building and the aging buildings adjacent, the open plaza left space for creativity, for installations and performance. The space was filled with people, old and young, local and tourists from everywhere, the audience sat on the ground, on the wall. It brought together a combination of art, culture, and local residents.

Sometimes you don't need to fill a space with elements to allow it to create a presence. Even the following day, it was awesome to just sit on the wall and watch the world go by!
11/02/05 Daren Crabill said:: I agree with prior posts that this is indeed a SUCCESSFUL space. The many different types of users; skaters, kids from a nearby school, tourists, locals, and others coexist in this space and are respectful. Certainly there are skaters here, but in my opinion adds to this space as art in their own right. People pause and watch as if they were an art exhibition in themselves. People help make a place successful, and it is accomplished here.
11/09/05 maria paz mozó said:: I agree with the previous comments, I went there this year, it was amazing, I felt that I could see the real life of Barcelona, not just touristic life, IÂ’m not a skater... but I don't understand whatÂ’s wrong with them? Why does their presence make that place a bad place?
But I went to Sants StaciÃ² too, and it is a bad place, because it was empty and very dirty.
03/22/06 cate brandt said:: I do not agree that this is an unsuccessful space. On a hot day in July last summer, it was packed with people and played host to an impromptu dance performance. Restaurants and shops adjacent provide plenty of street life, and the openness of the square is a welcome change from the narrow streets of the nearby Gothic Barrio.
05/22/06 megan may said:: Having been to the square last year I agree with the article, the building is out of place and does not invite people in off the street and yes the art is of little substance, compared with surrounding areas in the city the square is used by very few peolpe, it has the potential to be a great space but unfortunatley fails to deliver in the many respects outlined in the article.