Josep Lluís Mateo: Barcelona International Convention Centre

The CCIB (Barcelona International Convention Center) is one of the main structures housing the 2004 Forum of Cultures and one of the anchors of the new Diagonal Mar district. It is not properly a building but rather a set of objects with different functions, clients, and programs, together with a set of predefined bands that channel this plurality. A hotel and office building rise up on the site's northern edge, large exhibition and convention halls are located on the central strip, and public lobbies, restaurants, and small conference halls face the sea and gardens on the southern side. A combination of massive concrete and high-precision, large-span steel, the structure is simultaneously conventional and monstrous, banal and superhuman. With an introduction by Aaron Betsky, Director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute, this publication tells the story of the CCIB through the voices of architects, engineers, clients, consultants, and artists who have contributed to its making.