Torre Agbar – Skyscraper in Hi-Tech style. Agbar Tower, Barcelona, Spain: description, photo, where it is on the map, how to get there How wind currents move Agbar Tower Barcelona
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"No, and not under an alien sky,
And not under the protection of alien wings, -
I was then with my people,
Where my people, unfortunately, were"
Anna Akhmatova, epigraph to the poem Requiem.
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Barcelona Vodokanal office building: a fantasy realized
This 144 m high water scraper is the office building of Barcelona Water Utilities.
What is typical is that in Barcelona you cannot drink tap water, unlike a number of European cities.This urban planning error of Torre d'Agbar is shoved into the city center not far from the Cathedral of the Sagrada Familia (Sagrada Familia) by the architect Gaudi (Here they are nearby). The blunder is shown in only one of the three city guides that I bought. It is mentioned as rarely as possible and attempts are made to hidden from tourists. But views of almost every building included in various lists, including UNESCO, are necessarily replicated in all guides.
Now imagine that this gloomy member will stretch 2.5 times and hang over the great city of Petra. And the whole world will see someone’s sexual fantasies day and night. And also - for our money. Do we need it?
The cone of the Agbar Tower (Spanish: Torre Agbar) on Glories Square, flickering with multi-colored lights, is one of the main ones of modern Barcelona. Since 2006, when the construction of the residence of the municipal water company was completed. The 144-meter structure is one of the most tall buildings cities.
Story
Torre Agbar belongs to the Grupo Agbar holding, which consists of 220 companies serving several sectors of the city's infrastructure. From the Castilian Aguas de Barcelona or the Catalan Aigües de Barcelona, the abbreviation for the name of the tower is the word Agbar.
The tower project was developed by French architect Jean Nouvel together with B720 Arquitectos from Barcelona. The master was inspired by organic forms in Barcelona and. The structure is often compared to a natural geyser reaching the sky above the city.
Design
The building consists of two oval cylinders topped by a glass and steel dome. There are no internal columns inside the structure, but there are technical services and emergency staircases. Twenty-eight of the thirty-four floors are currently used for offices, three containing the technical components of the building.
One floor is dedicated to a cafe, another contains conference rooms and another one is occupied by. Four underground floors accommodate an auditorium and parking. In the lobby of the tower there is an interesting exhibition telling about the history of water supply in Barcelona.
Idea
Since the main focus of the Torre Agbar project is water, the tower shows a metaphorical resemblance to a fountain that constantly changes its appearance. The walls of the tower reflect light thanks to aluminum plates painted in 40 vibrant colors. The surface of the building is lined with thousands of glass louvres, which serve as sun protection and can be tilted at different angles to ensure maximum reflection of solar energy. The space between the facade layers allows natural air circulation in the building.
Illuminations
The night illumination of the Agbar Tower leaves an incredible impression - four and a half thousand illuminated glass panels constantly change their colors. The tower looks especially spectacular from a distance. Special light shows on weekdays occur as scheduled: Monday, Saturday and Sunday from 20.00 to 23.00 in winter, from 21.00 to 00.00 in summer. IN holidays Residents and visitors of the city can also enjoy original installations on the surface of the tower.
In the near future, the Torre Agbar building was plannedopen luxury 5 star Hyatt with restaurants and observation deck, but work was suspended.
Address: Torre Agbar, Av. Diagonal, 211, 08018 Barcelona
Anastasia Khvatova
Generally recognized symbol; the original 34-story skyscraper in , which became one of the tallest buildings in the world. It is the third tallest building in Barcelona, making it impossible to miss when driving through the city. It is included in the version of our website.
The tower received its name in honor of the management company "Agbar Group". The main architect was the Frenchman Jean Nouvel. It was according to his idea that the building took a shape reminiscent of a giant cucumber, although the meaning was different. He wanted the tower to resemble monoliths famous mountain Montserrat. The entire 142-meter building is made of alternating glass blocks. It has a total of 38 floors, four of which are located underground. The façade of the tower is decorated with 4,500 LED elements. Tourists can visit the building absolutely free.
On numerous floors, in addition to the offices of the largest Spanish companies, there are cozy cafes. The building's lobby often hosts exhibitions and other public events. J. Nouvel's admiration for the Sagrada Familia Cathedral was reflected to some extent in the architecture of the tower. Its northern side is designed in such a way as to obtain an optimal view of the temple. You can get to your destination by metro along the red line to Glories station, or by trams T4, T5.
Photo attraction: Agbar Tower
Agbar Tower (Torre Agbar) is a skyscraper that is a modern masterpiece of architecture and design. The Agbar Tower was built by the Dragados company from 1999 to 2005 according to a joint project by the French architect Jean Nouvel and the b720 Arquitectos company. This building is located in Barcelona, near the Plaza de les Glores Catalanes at 211 Diogonal Avenue. The name of the Tower was given in honor of the holding company Agbar Group. The grand opening took place on September 16, 2005 by Spanish Monarch Juan Carlos I.
Agbar Tower - impressive height and volumes
Agbar Tower is a skyscraper consisting of 39 floors, of which four floors are underground. The height of the structure is almost 145 meters, it is the third largest architectural structure in Barcelona. The championship in height belongs to the skyscraper, the Arts Hotel and the Mapfe Tower. The usable area of the Agbar Tower is 50,500 sq.m., of which 30,000 sq.m. is allocated for offices, 3,210 sq.m. area belongs to technical floors with equipment and 8,351 sq.m. used for office space, including a large concert hall.
Agbar Tower and its non-standard design
The Agbar Tower, in its shape, is very reminiscent of the London skyscraper 30 St. Mary Ax, created by architect Norman Forester. The shape of the structure resembles a “Cucumber”, in connection with this local residents, sometimes they treat the building with irony, inventing all sorts of nicknames for it.
The outside of the structure is covered with translucent and transparent panels, thanks to which, under the influence of sunlight, Agbar surprises passers-by with a shimmer of many shades and colors. In the evening and at night, the façade of the building is illuminated by 4,500 LED devices. The building never ceases to amaze viewers with its light illumination even at night, at which time the facade is illuminated by about 4,500 LED devices, creating the effect of approximately 16 million colors. Such a lighting system cannot but fascinate passersby.
The Agbar Tower is a design of the future, on which temperature sensors are installed that regulate the closing and opening of the blinds, this contributes to good ventilation of the building and energy saving.
Agbar Tower was designed in the style of abstract-symbolic expressionism. If you look at the Tower from a distance, all the numerous details of the structure merge together, as a result of this effect, including light, it seems that the entire structure is made of mercury.
Agbar, since 2005, head office of the water supply company Águas de Barcelona. Officially, since 2014, the Agbar Tower has been ranked 13th among the tallest buildings in Spain.
Address: Spain, Barcelona, Diagonal Ave.
Start of construction: 1999
Completion of construction: 2005 year
Architect: Jean Nouvel
Height: 144.4 m
Number of floors: 34 above ground and 4 underground
Coordinates: 41°24"12.8"N 2°11"22.3"E
General view of the tower
Agbar Tower has 38 floors. Many sources mention that the skyscraper in Barcelona consists of 34 floors. The thing is that four floors are underground and are not captured by the cameras of enthusiastic tourists. The design of this tower was created by the famous modern architect Jean Nouvel. However, to recreate this miracle, he needed help: specialists from b720 Arquitectos became co-authors of the project. Jean Nouvel, in numerous interviews after the grand opening of the tower, said that this project was inspired by the raging water elements, the legendary bell towers of the Sagrada Familia and the conical rocks mountain range Montserrat, which can be admired near Barcelona. Whether this is true or not is for experts to decide: many of them claim that the Agbar Tower is a kind of copy of a building rising in the capital of Great Britain. They are even called the same - “cucumbers”.
View of the tower at night
Architectural "mismatch"
From the mid-19th century, Barcelona began to actively unravel and “go beyond” the walls erected in the Middle Ages. The construction of new buildings was carried out according to a clearly verified and meticulously calculated plan by engineer Ildefonsin Cerda. This plan can be called an orthogonal planning grid. Thanks to such development and the ban on construction based on the principle of free planning, “flat” and convenient avenues, boulevards and streets appeared in Barcelona.>
It is impossible to get lost in them, everything is clear, convenient and, one might even say, cozy. In 2005, a so-called “hole” appeared among this orderliness. This was the Agbar Tower, built by Nouvel. To date, the area adjacent to the tower cannot be brought into compliance with the above-mentioned orthogonal planning grid. According to authoritative experts, the Agbar Tower, which is the office of the water supply company Aguas de Barcelona, is causing chaos in the calm life of the Catalans.
Tower illuminated at night
Agbar Tower through the eyes of Barcelona guests
No matter how much the architects criticize Nouvel’s creation, the Agbar Tower with total area more than 50 thousand square meters, is a truly fantastic sight. Each office, each room, including the technical one, is designed in an open plan. As a result of this, the tourist will not be able to find any symmetry in the arrangement of the windows. All of them, and there are no more or less than 4.5 thousand of them, are located chaotically. However, this speaks more about the architectural complexity of the project and the accuracy of construction calculations, rather than about Nouvel’s “freedom,” which in turn cannot but delight tourists. During the daytime, city guests, looking at the Agbar Tower, admire the unusual play of colors that arise thanks to the multi-colored transparent and translucent panels that cover the entire structure. They seem to be alive: they open and close automatically, contributing to proper ventilation and proper energy saving throughout the building. However, all these details are visible only if a person is directly near the building. If you look at the tower, built in the style of abstract symbolic expressionism, from a distance, you get the impression that it is built from liquid metal, somewhat reminiscent of mercury. Everything merges together: panels, windows, partitions.
Illuminated view of the tower
As soon as dusk falls on Barcelona, the Agbar Tower appears before the eyes of amazed tourists in all its glory: four and a half thousand LEDs turn the building into a “dome” shimmering with neon lights. Many compare Nouvel's project at night to a New Year's tree decorated with a thousand garlands. The lighting system is amazing: it seems as if the entire building consists of glowing pixels. About 16 million colors create effects that cause a silent shock to the person who sees the Agbar Tower for the first time.
As mentioned above, the Catalans treat their tower with irony: almost the same way as the French once treated Eiffel’s creation. “Cucumber”, “suppository” - the most harmless nicknames of the Agbara Tower. The rest of the associations that one of the tallest architectural structures in Barcelona evokes among the Catalans, to put it mildly, is not for publication...
Tower fragment
Despite all the “shortcomings” and criticism from architects, the Agbara Tower is still one of the main symbols of Barcelona. The townspeople are accustomed to giving it unflattering names, but they are proud of it, like everything that attracts attention to Catalonia and its capital. Catalans are such a people: pride, devotion to their native land and love for everything that has ever been built on it are the main traits of their character. If you ask any guide giving tours of Barcelona what you need to see in the city, he will definitely point out the Agbara Tower, along with the masterpieces of Gaudí and the legendary Camp Nou.
Many tourist brochures for Barcelona say that you should not be influenced by skeptical architects, and be sure to visit the amazing architectural structure, located in Plaza Glorias Catalanes. Moreover, according to the assumptions of many townspeople, even more amazing buildings will soon appear behind the Tower. After all, it is located on the border of the so-called technological quarter, which means that beyond this border the flight of imagination of designers is unlimited.