This guide to contemporary architecture in Barcelona begins, intentionally, with the year that the first municipal elections were held (after the Franco dictatorship time). It thus spans the period of democratic government in the city from 1979 to the present day. Many transformations have occurred during this time, in particular in the urban and social realms. The links created between the city's various neighbourhoods, the opening of new squares and, above all, the infrastructure put in place for the Olympic Games hosted in 1992 laid the foundations for a new urban model, which has been praised by experts around the globe in the last 15 years. The guide, with its lavish, up-to-date visual information, features a wide-ranging series of works, from modest urban improvement plans to the ambitious projects undertaken by world-renowned architects such as Herzog and de Meuron, Arata Isozaki, Norman Foster, Toyo Ito and Jean Nouvel.
