The Rough Guide to Barcelona 8 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

dazzling

Edifici Fòrum

building, a giant blue biscuit tin hovering – seemingly

unsupported – above the ground is the work of Jacques Herzog, architect of

London’s Tate Modern. Everything here is on a grand scale: the main conven-

tion centre is the biggest in southern Europe, while the boast about the main

open space is that it’s the second largest square in the world (150,000 square

metres) after Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. This immense, undulating expanse

spreads towards the sea, culminating in a giant solar-panelled canopy that

overlooks the marina, and landscaped beach, park and performance areas. In

summer, temporary bars, dance floors, open-air cinema and chill-out zones are

established at the

Parc del Fòrum

(

www.bcn.cat/parcdelforum), and the

city authorities have shifted many of the bigger annual music festivals and events

down here to inject a bit of life outside conventions. It can still seem a bit

soulless at times – hot as Hades in summer, buffeted by biting winter winds –

but it’s worth the metro ride if you’re interested in heroic-scale public projects.

The tram comes down here too, so you could always glide there or back via

Avinguda Diagonal and Glòries to see more of Barcelona in transformation.

THE WATERFRONT: FROM PORT VELL TO DIAGONAL MAR

Diagonal

Mar and the Fòrum