Our Urban Landscape Routes offer the inhabitants of Barcelona and people visiting
the city the opportunity to discover its heritage and history in different way,
avoiding the regimentation and rush of organised tour groups and making use
of public transport.
Each route provides users with all that they need to organise their experience
of direct discovery: an explanatory guide, a map showing the recommended itineraries
and, depending on the route, vouchers for discounts on admission prices to the
different sites or other special offers.
Highlight Site:
www.fotosdebarcelona.com
Since the early days of the Barcelona, Make Yourself Beautiful campaign, the
Barcelona Town Council had been planning to promote a set of itineraries focussing
on the urban landscape to enhance awareness of the city's heritage.
The basic idea was to attain a dual objective. One aim was to carry out a project
to foster restoration of the city's most representative heritage sites. The
other was to be able to exhibit to the public certain buildings and elements
that had been revalued so that the city's inhabitants could discover and take
pride in Barcelona's architectural heritage, a factor that would undoubtedly
help to foster a generalised culture of conservation and improvement in connection
with all the types of buildings and elements that make up our city's landscape.
The first embodiment of this project was the creation
of the Modernisme Route in 1997.
The first urban landscape route, the Modernisme Route, was inaugurated in 1997
as an initiative in response to the growing interest in that artistic and intellectual
movement, which left an immense architectural heritage in Barcelona and around
Catalonia.
The route included visits to 50 sites of interest structured on an itinerary
through the Ciutat Vella, Eixample and Gràcia districts.
Before the Route was inaugurated, restoration of city's most outstanding Modernista
heritage sites had to be completed, a task in which both the owners of the buildings
and a substantial number of sponsor enterprises took part, in conjunction, naturally,
with the Barcelona, Make Yourself Beautiful campaign.
The dissemination of Barcelona's cultural and landscape heritage has been expanded
with the creation of other specific routes.
The different routes have been inaugurated coinciding with the celebration
of the Modernista triennial, an initiative of Barcelona's Town Council that
marked commemorative years of the three best known Modernista architects:
 |
2000 - Domènech
i Montaner Year
(150th anniversary of his birth)
2001 - Puig i Cadafalch Year
(100th anniversary of the Casa Amatller)
2002 - International Gaudí Year
(150th anniversary of his birth) |
The number and subject matter of the routes have
since been expanded progressively
to take in the
full diversity of the city's different facets.
|
2002 - Verdaguer
Route
Created on the occasion of the centenary of
the poet's death, in collaboration
with the
cities of Vic and Perpinyà, it shows the urban
landscape
as seen through the poet's eyes.
2003 - Blue Route
A view of the evolution of the city's sea front,
from the Llobregat River
to the Besòs River.
Past and present looking to the sea
2003 - 100% Selection. BCN Design Route
This route was developed in collaboration
with FAD, coinciding with its centenary
and with Design Year. It consists of 100 sites
around the city selected by 100 personages
in the areas of design, architecture, art and
culture for the exceptional quality of their
design, along with another 400 points chosen
for their "sentimental design".
2005 - Barcelona Modernisme Route (updated):
The 115 most outstanding sites of Modernisme in Barcelona, with a new and expanded presentation of the route inaugurated in 1997. |
After an initial phase focusing on the architectural heritage of Modernisme,
the Institute of Urban Landscape and Quality of Life is orienting development
of the urban landscape routes towards new centres of attention that will promote
greater awareness of how the landscape and life in Barcelona and its vicinity
have evolved.
The Institute is now working with various organisations in Barcelona and other
towns and cities around Catalonia on the preparation of new routes, including
the following:
|
Women's Route
An appreciation of the role played by women in the development of the
city's lifestyle.
|
At the same time, Barcelona's Town Council, through
the Institute, is leading
development of the Ruta
Europea del Modernisme - Art Nouveau European Route,
an initiative on the part of various cities in Europe,
the Americas and Africa
with Modernista and
Art Nouveau heritage sites.
