Arenas de Barcelona: Historia de una Transformacion

The city of Barcelona has made a massive cultural statement with the conversion of its iconic bullring into a destination as a retail and leisure complex: the Arenas de Barcelona project. Designed by London-based Richard Rogers Partnership together with Alonso Balaguer in Barcelona, Las Arenas formally reopened to the public on 25 March 2011. In this monograph, readers will find how the historic 19th century bullring, a visual landmark placed in the West gateway to the city, has been converted using the most advanced architectural and engineering technologies in order to preserve the striking original neo-mudejar facade, whilst providing a major new entertainment complex within the facade as well as an adjacent office building and telecommunications tower. As the Mayor says in the foreword: Las Arenas is once again a great example of Barcelona's commitment to singularity and urban integration. The photographic journey through the history of this emblematic location as put forward in this book shows, once again, the capacity of our city to combine tradition and modernity with harmony, innovation and creativity.