Week 8: Ground Plan

"Plano General de la Exposición Universal de Barcelona." From Exposición Universal de Barcelona, 1888: Catálogo Oficial, especial de España.

The ground plan of the 1888 Exposició Universal owes its form to the extant urban framework more than to any other source. The majority of the Exposition took place in the recently constructed Parc de la Ciutadella, with an adjacent grand avenue serving as the main entrance axis leading into the park. With the exception of the symbolic destruction of the ruins of the monarchist fortress in the park's center to make way for new structures (which would have likely happened regardless of the Exposition), the plan of the park itself was not altered. Some buildings that were already there were used for the Exposition (the Museu Martorell and the Umbracle, for example), while new buildings were built in places logical given the park's preëxisting layout. Given this lack of intervention in creating the fair's ground plan, the most fruitful examinations lie in discussions of the few changes to the park that were made, and the locations of specific buildings relative to each other and to the overall plan.

"Plano General de la Exposición Universal de Barcelona, Setiembre 1887-Abril 1888." From Exposició Universal 1888: Diari Oficial de l'Exposició, volume I, via Arxiu Municipal Contemporani de Barcelona, Ajuntament de Barcelona. Note that the dates given are the predicted ones, not the actual ones; this does not depict the final plan of the Exposition itself.

One of the major changes to accommodate the fair was, as mentioned above, the destruction of the last remaining ruins of the Ciutadella, the fortress built after Barcelona's conquest in 1714 to repress the citizenry and demolished to make way for the park after the Revolution of 1868. Earlier plans of the fair, made during preparatory stages, clearly denote a space in the center for the "restos de la Ciudadela" (ruins of the Ciutadella).

The ruins of the Ciutadella, before the Exposition. From El Pais.

However, by the opening of the fair what was left of the Ciutadella had been replaced with a "fuente mágica" (magic fountain) and various pavilions representing government services: "jurados" (judges), "correos" (mail), "sanitario" (health), and "bodegas" (storehouses or possibly wineries), along with a larger "pabellón real" (royal pavilion). As powerful a symbol as the destruction of the Ciutadella and its replacement with a public park and an Exposition promoting Catalonia was for the people of Barcelona, powerful, too, is the central location of Spanish state pavilions on the site of its remains. This may have been a symbolic victory won by the central government; a demand in exchange for supporting the fair financially after private organizers and the city of Barcelona failed to come up with the money to spare the city and nation embarrassment without intervention. Though the fair should have been almost entirely focused on Catalonia, it was the buildings of the Spanish central government that stood in the park's center, directly in front of the main attraction: the enormous Palau de la Indústria (Palace of Industry).

Antoni Gaudí. Pavilion of the Companyia Transatlàntica. From Wikimedia Commons.

The other major innovation as far as the ground plan itself was concerned was the addition of a smaller section on the waterfront, connected to the park by a bridge that spanned the railroad tracks. This had been a very marginalized area of Barcelona, severed from the rest of the city by the train tracks. The Exposition literally bridged that divide, reconnecting the city with the sea. This, too, was symbolic, as Barcelona's maritime prowess had decreased greatly over the previous centuries—the transition of the focus of global trade from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic from the 16th century on, and the Mediterranean dominance of the Ottomans and their sanctioned pirates meant that Barcelona was no longer at one of Europe's (or even Spain's) most advantageous commercial nodes. This waterfront section, too, can be seen as figurative attempt to reclaim and reconquer Catalonia's glorious past, just as the Parc de la Ciutadella was.

The locations of the fair's buildings are also telling. As mentioned above, the Spanish state's buildings were in the middle of the park, quite possibly as a condition of its financial support. The waterfront section, logically, housed naval buildings and those of maritime companies such as the Companyia Transatlàntica, whose temporary pavilion was designed by Antoni Gaudí. The Palaces of Science and Fine Arts stood opposite each other on either side of the Saló de Sant Joan, the main entrance avenue, with the Agricultural Palace along the main avenue running perpendicular and along the park. These, clearly, were considered by the planners to be among the most important structures. The most important, however, was the Palau de la Indústria, a massive hall devoted to industrial exhibitions from all over Spain and around the world. The largest structure by far, the fan-shaped Palau de la Indústria was located just before the bridge to the waterfront, at the end of the park farthest from the main entrance: it was meant to be the culminating moment of the visitor's experience, an awesome display of Catalonia's and Spain's industrial potential (indeed, the Spanish government was given the most centrally located hall).

To see the plan of the Exposició Universal de Barcelona in a broader urban context, see: http://worldmap.harvard.edu/maps/660