Manifesta 15: Towards the Grand Metropolitan Barcelona

The European Nomadic Biennial Manifesta 15 arrives in Barcelona to address one of the conurbation’s pending issues: to bet on a Barcelona without peripheries and vindicate the right to the metropolis.

Today’s Barcelona, one of the most densely populated European metropolises, cannot be understood without thinking beyond its administrative boundaries and the 36 municipalities that make up its metropolitan area. The greater city encompasses a much larger territory, with an area of 3,200 km2 and a population of 5.2 million inhabitants. This is the area in which the most ambitious Manifesta to date proposes to act, in which, for the first time, twelve cities share the stage, bringing together everything from artistic interventions to socio-cultural and ecological collaboration projects to promote cultural decentralization and democratization.

Rethinking the city and its limits

In order to rethink the city and its limits and open up spaces for transdisciplinary expression and dialogue, Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana unfolds around three conceptual axes. These, in turn, are linked to the large natural systems that surround the city and connect it with the metropolitan region: “Imagining Futures”, which covers the entire area of the Besòs River, “Cure and Care”, which extends across the Collserola mountain range, and “Balancing Conflicts”, which embraces the Llobregat delta. With the aim of fostering positive changes in the territory, Manifesta 15 aspires to help turn the two rivers, the mountains and the sea from borders into opportunities.

Architectural gems to be discovered | Manifesta 15

But Manifesta 15 also holds surprises for architecture enthusiasts. The biennial provides access to some unique spaces usually closed to the public, which temporarily become cultural showcases. For the first time, visitors can explore the turbine hall of the iconic Tres Xemeneies (“Three Chimneys”), a former power plant located by the beach, which left a heavily contaminated area along the Catalan coast. Another architectural gem to discover is Casa Gomis, a masterpiece of rationalist architecture nestled in a protected natural environment, both threatened by the expansion of El Prat airport. In Barcelona city, the former headquarters of the Gustavo Gili publishing house, another notable example of rationalist architecture, stands as the main venue for the biennial.

Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana runs from September 8 to November 24, 2024. We are excited to rediscover Barcelona with you.

Text: Stefanie Herr, GA Barcelona

https://manifesta15.org