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:: Panoramic Views
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It is well known that to create anew frequently requires the old to be swept away. In the UK whole movements have been spawned that have grown out of resistance to this process, and change that involves the destruction of the old is resisted by groups such as the Georgian Society, and we have a planning system that has protection for the old built into it through the so-called listing system. There appear to be no such inhibitions in Barcelona.
Whole swathes of the town are being removed and completely rebuilt. Urban renewal on this scale rarely happens in the UK and when it does it usually happens as a result of destruction rather than deliberate town planning. The regeneration of Manchester's centre is currently being lauded but happened only because IRA men decided it was aesthetically unacceptable and demolished it with a large bomb. Areas of Barcelona appear to have been similarly flattened, but here it is the hand of the town planner that is at work, not an accidental swipe of fate.
Running across Barcelona from top left to bottom right is the Avenida Diagonal, almost on the end of which, adjacent to a shopping Mall and the new conference halls, is the imposing Hilton. In an area of new architecture, domestic and commercial, the landmark hotel stands on the corner of the road leading to the new marina complex being reclaimed from the Mediterráneo. Almost at the other end of the Avenida Diagonal is the other Hilton in town, refurbished a couple of years ago. Both hotels are popular and busy.
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| The scale of the new Barcelona that includes the Hilton is quite different to that of the other parts of town, although it is predominantly a city of apartment dwellers (rollover for Gaudi's rooftops) |
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| Thought has been given to how windows work visually at the end of the corridor, whilst by the pool, even in late winter there are reminders of the summer (rollover to see) |
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If you like striking modern architecture you will like the new Barcelona the frenetic urban renewal is birthing. The city was recently awarded an RIBA Gold Medal for its regeneration efforts. Without having known what the old buildings were like it is impossible to judge whether the new is better, but personally I find the bleak expanses of concrete and tarmac between tall walls of steel, stone and glass, combined with the lack of a scale related to a human being, creates a bleak and empty environment that fails to lift my spirits.
The hotel is the best of a series of small vertical blocks, making a slightly bizarre architectural grouping, but the location gives the rooms fantastic views, the neighbouring conference and business centres guarantees steady business, whilst the adjacent Metro and tram lines make getting into town cheap and easy. The quality of the finishes architecturally are very good throughout the area, and this quality of finish continues inside the hotel, the shift in scale from the grand exterior spaces, plazas and avenues, to the hotel room being moderated via the oversized lounge areas with their mezzanine stairs and huge windows.
Taking the lift decants the guest into a lobby on each bedroom floor where a large picture window gives an amazing if slightly vertiginous view over the city. The view is broken by the addition of a small bonsai tree in the centre of each window, which when the column of windows is viewed from the street at night makes small punctuation marks rising up the façade.
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