Themed routes

This new landmark on the Barcelona skyline was added in 2003: an enormous bullet-shaped cylinder emerging from the ground and pointing skywards, with a glass surface in which the colours of the Mediterranean are reflected. The Agbar Tower is one of the symbols of contemporary Barcelona.

Barcelona’s new iconic landmark was the result of a collaboration between the Atelier Jean Nouvel and the Barcelona-based b720 architectural practice, and was inaugurated in the Plaça de les Glòries in 2003. Like a geyser bubbling up from the depths of the earth, the Torre Agbar, which is the headquarters of the water company Grup Agbar, has an eye-catching outline. It stands 144 metres tall and provides an imposing observation deck over the new Barcelona. The French architect Jean Nouvel took into account the building’s location when he designed it, and this is why its shape is reminiscent of the mountain of Montserrat or the Gaudiesque forms of the Sagrada Família. He also harnessed solar power and groundwater to reduce energy consumption.

The tower has an oval, almost circular base and the interior is spacious and open-plan without pillars. The outer curtain wall is clad in different-coloured glass louvers which can be tilted at different angles. The colour scheme changes from the warmer reddish tones at the base to cooler blues and whites at the top. At night, when the tower is lit up and saturated with colour, it is a beautiful sight.