From its foundation as the Roman Barcino, Barcelona has always been surrounded by walls to defend the city against its enemies. However, the Bourbon conquest on the 11th of September 1714 turned these protective walls into the city’s prison. The conquering army feared rebellion from the Catalans and used the city’s walls to control the populace. To further control the citizens, a great part of one of the neighbourhoods was demolished to make space for a military fort.
By the mid-1850, Barcelona was on the brink of collapse. The city was expanding at a fast pace and was ready to become a European capital. The population density was skyrocketing, 856 inhabitants per hectare (Paris had fewer than 400 at the time). The mortality rates climbed higher than those in Paris and London; life expectancy dropped to a mere 36 years for the rich 23 years for the working classes. The walls were becoming a health risk, almost literally suffocating the people of Barcelona.
The city council opened a public competition for the Barcelona extension plan in 1859. Ultimately, unknown Catalan engineer Ildefons Cerdà’s answered the call and put forth an expansion plan consisting of a grid of streets uniting the old city with the peripheral villages, which later became integrated neighbourhoods.
Barcelona Example Plan Cerda
Cerdà’s plan was ingenious and took into account a multitude of important factors. He calculated the volume of atmospheric air one person needed to breathe correctly. Detailed professions the population might do, mapped the services they might need, such as marketplaces, schools and hospitals. He concluded that, among other things, the narrower the city’s streets, the more deaths occurred. Philosophically, Cerdà’s engineering was a utopian socialist – core to his design deep sense of equality and a populist ideology.
The original plan consisted of 20 meter wide streets arranged in a grid of parallel and perpendicular streets broken only by wide avenues crossing the plot diagonally. Among the major developments was the octagonal islands, incorporating chamfered corners to facilitate circulation. The maximum height of the buildings should have been 16 meters or four stories building. Originally the plan had a market every 900 meters, a park every 1500 meters, three hospitals, a cemetery, three churches and a forest. Gardens in the centre of each street block, rich and poor accessing the same services, and smooth-flowing traffic were among his then-revolutionary, even utopian-sounding ideas – many of which materialized to at least some extent.
Plan Cerda Eixample Island
In September of 1860, the first brick was settled, officially starting the construction of the new neighbourhood, the Eixample (Catalan for expansion). In the subsequent 50 years, 150 of these modernist houses were built. In its time, the plan was accused of monotony, creating a city that looked too homogenous. Over the following decades, Eixample grew with magnificent modernist buildings like Casa Mila, Sagrada Familia, or Casa Batllo, all works of Antonio Gaudi, which today are Unesco World Heritage sites.
Antonio Gaudi Casa Mila
Ildefons Cerda created a neighbourhood without class divisions where, both for ideological and public health reasons, the population would be spread out equally without exclusive areas for the rich or poor. We could say that the Eixample neighbourhood is an open-air Modernism Museum. A relaxed walk on the streets of Barcelona would allow us to see great works of great architects, but as well works unique in this world, like the famous Sagrada Familia Cathedral.
Sagrada Familia Barcelona
It is truly amazing how knowing its history can unravel the complex mysteries of Barcelona; secrets that on the surface seem confusing become so simple once you know the whole story.
It fascinated me until I learned the history, and hopefully, in my re-telling, you’ve come to appreciate it as I have. Just another fantastic facet of this beautiful city that I love!