Glorias square and its surroundings is one of the hot spots now in Barcelona experiencing lots of changes in the last years and probably one of the most important challenges the city of Barcelona has to tackle today. The opening of Diagonal Av, the creation of the 22@ District, the new Gran Via Av. are some of the projects that are transforming the character of this node within the city. Landscape is changing, vitality is raising up and therefore new public is arriving. The Glòrias commercial mall has to adapt itself to the new circumstances, get back its urban character and become part of the city as much as part of the neighbourhood.
The client came to Estudio Mariscal asking for a new visual identity that will reflect the urban spirit and the air of renovation. In response Estudio Mariscal created a conceptual language through graphics and a group of singular elements that become part of a new environment design in line with the architectural proposal. A landscape of colors and textures that give shape to totems, canopies, sculptures, floor tiles and all the group of urban elements. The existence of a guideline and the use of this new alphabet in the design of all the components gives coherence to the whole project. Graphics and architecture are working together, both part of the same objectives and sharing the same sources.
Five metal sculptures placed at strategic points such as the entrances, the central square or the crossing point of the two avenues stand out as key elements of the project, a clear example of the abstract language transformed from the graphics to volume in the space.
A big mural of black & white tiles covers the whole floor surface. The drawing twists and appears pixelated due to the hexagonal pattern of the tile, this geometrical piece, made in concrete, remind us to the modernist floors in la Pedrera and Paseo de Gracia as much as the classic floor tile (“panot”) that we can see at all the sidewalks in Barcelona.
All this interventions together with canopies, metal-trees and signage contribute in the creation of the new identity also enhancing the urban spirit of the place.
*This project has been developed by Estudio Mariscal. I was in charge as the "Lead project" of the development from the creative concept till the works on site, coordinating the internal team and managing relations with the client, suppliers and other external agents.
