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One of the main political objectives accompanying the organisation of XXVth Olympiad was that of taking full advantage of the event to drive forward Barcelona’’s urban renewal. Indeed, the Olympic Games were a pretext and a catalyst for doing so (Nel·lo, 1992).

The architect Oriol Bohigas was commissioned with the city’’s urban planning project, and he promoted a process of land reuse to make the urban space more balanced and equitable. Over time, the experience gained has been termed the ‘Barcelona model’, and it has been widely studied and globally disseminated as a Mediterranean example of urban development.

One of the main challenges in the Olympic period was to open up Barcelona to the sea. The reason for this was that little attention had been paid to the city’’s coastline, basically because old industrial neighbourhoods were situated in front of it. In the old fishing neighbourhood of the Barceloneta, the beach was almost exclusively used by a series of restaurants. However, advantage was taken of the imminent celebration of the Olympic Games to recover the whole beach for public use, from the Barceloneta to La Mar Bella.

The Parc de Mar Area underwent the greatest urban transformation, with the creation of the Vila Olímpica, the main Olympic Village of the Barcelona’92 Games. Since then, it has become another of the city’’s neighbourhoods, with its own services and communal life.

Selected resources

Estudio del urbanismo olímpico : balance de la investigación y perpectivas de futuro

Website

Muñoz, Francesc (2011). “Estudio del urbanismo olímpico : balance de la investigación y perpectivas de futuro”, Fernández Peña, Emilio; Berta Cerezuela; Miquel Gómez Benosa; Chris Kennett; Miquel de Moragas Spà: Mosaico olímpico: Investigación multidisciplinar y difusión de los estudios olímpicos. CEO-UAB: 20 años. Barcelona : Centre d’Estudis Olímpics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Ajuntament de Barcelona.

Muñoz, Francesc (2011). “L’estudi de l’urbanisme olímpic: balanç de recerca i perspectives de futur”, Fernández Peña, Emilio; Berta Cerezuela; Miquel Gómez Benosa; Chris Kennett; Miquel de Moragas Spà: Mosaic olímpic: Recerca multidisciplinar i difusió dels estudis olímpics. CEO-UAB: 20 anys. Barcelona : Centre d’Estudis Olímpics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Ajuntament de Barcelona, pàg. 203-214. ISBN 978-84-9850-312-8 (Ajuntament de Barcelona)

Muñoz, Francesc (2011). “Study of olympic urban planning: research assessment and future outlook”. Fernández Peña, Emilio; Berta Cerezuela; Miquel Gómez Benosa; Chris Kennett; Miquel de Moragas Spà: An Olympic Mosaic: Multidisciplinary Research and Dissemination of Olympic Studies. CEO-UAB: 20 Years. Barcelona : Centre d’Estudis Olímpics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Ajuntament de Barcelona.

 

 

 

Les repercussions urbanístiques dels Jocs Olímpics de Barcelona

Website

Nel·lo, Oriol (1992): Les repercussions urbanístiques dels Jocs Olímpics de Barcelona. Barcelona: Centre d’Estudis Olímpics.

El Vol de la fletxa: Barcelona'92: crònica de la reinvenció de la ciutat

El Vol de la fletxa: Barcelona’92: crònica de la reinvenció de la ciutat. Barcelona; [Madrid]: Centre de Cultura Contemporània; Electa, 1994

Els Jocs de la ciutat

Website

Millet, Lluís (2002): “Els Jocs de la ciutat”. Miquel de Moragas; Miquel de Botella. Barcelona : l’herència dels Jocs (1992-2002). Barcelona : Centre d’Estudis Olímpics, Editorial Planeta S.A., Ajuntament de Barcelona 2002

Barcelona Olímpica : la ciudad renovada

Barcelona Olímpica : la ciudad renovada. Barcelona: Holsa; Àmbit, 1992. 

Barcelona: la ciutat i el 92

Guevara, M. Teresa (1990): Barcelona: la ciutat i el 92. Barcelona: Olimpíada Cultural.

Las obras que transforman la ciudad

Holsa (1990?): Las obras que transforman la ciudad : vivir en Barcelona. Barcelona : Barcelona Holding Olímpic SA-

Barcelona'92

Holsa (1992): Barcelona’92.  [Barcelona] : Holsa. Barcelona Holding Olimpic SA, 1992

In the repository

In the Municipal Contemporary Archive, you can consult the administrative and management documentation generated on this topic by the Organising Committee Barcelona’92, SA (COOB’92), Holding Olímpic SA (HOLSA), Anella Olímpica de Montjuïc SA (AOMSA) (Olympic ring), Vila Olímpica SA (VOSA) (Olympic village) and the Institut Municipal de Promoció Urbanística SA (IMPUSA) (municipal Institute of urban development).

In the Barcelona Photographic Archive, you can consult the photographic and audio-visual documentation (more than 89000 photographs) generated by the by the Organising Committee Barcelona’92, SA (COOB’92), Holding Olímpic SA (HOLSA), Anella Olímpica de Montjuïc SA (AOMSA) (Olympic ring), Vila Olímpica SA (VOSA) (Olympic village) and the Institut Municipal de Promoció Urbanística SA (IMPUSA) (municipal Institute of urban development).

If you need further information on the collection, read the collection guide.

In the library

In the libraries of the study centres of the Barcelona Olympic Foundation (FBO) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) you can find the selection of listed documents and other bibliographic materials on the subject.

If you are interested in knowing more about our Olympic collection, you can consult the Union Catalogue of Catalan Universities (UAB collection) or contact us by e-mail (FBO collection).

Sports in pictures

If you are interested in images of the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Barcelona’92, the Image Service of the Olympic Foundation of Barcelona will help you identify the images that satisfy your needs.

The Foundation manages the official image archive of the Barcelona’92 Games. You can contact them by email to request more information about the services provided and the collection of images. In this page, we offer a selection of images on the event.