The presence of the University of Barcelona in the city’s urban history

Lezcano makes a historical, architectural and urban tour around the buildings of the UB that are located in the city center, starting in Rambla dels Estudis, where the first building of the University was set, established by Alfonso the Magnanimous in 1450. He mentions the university being moved to Cervera in 1717 due the Bourbon repression after the War of Succession, and the constant fight of the city to recover higher education, restored after 1836. He also talks about the problems in the Carme convent, which held activities from the University in a building that was deteriorated, which caused the need to build an ex novo building to host the higher studies with dignity. Elies Rogent was the one in charge to work on this project, which lasted eight years, from 1859 to 1879, which ended in the current building in plaça Universitat, “the architectural pride of the UB and which was declared national historic monument in 1970”. Lezcano analyses the eclectic architectural style of the building, influenced by the German Rundbogenstil and the Catalan Romanesque and Gothic styles, as well as the Hispanic Mudejar and Caliphal and Nazari styles, and the complexity of the decorative and iconological program of the complex created by Rogent.

Then, he analyses the two big architectural blocs of the UB located at the center of the city: the faculties of Geography and History and Philosophy, in Raval, and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, in Eixample. The building in Raval, built by Cristian Cirici, Carles Bassó, Josep Sala and Xavier Vallcorba, involved the return of Human Sciences studies to the center of the city in 2006, near museums and cultural sites. This is an architectural building that aims to create the least impact in a high density urban area. Regarding the Faculty of Medicine, studies that are present in Barcelona since the 14th century, it was built by the architect Ignasi Bartrolí after 1895 and it was finished in 1906, together with Hospital Clínic, in carrer Casanova.

The article ends with three tour proposals: an urban one from the Faculty of Medicine to the Historical Building of the UB and going into Ciutat Vella, visiting the places where former buildings that hosted higher studies were located; and two more tours inside the buildings in Gran Via and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Caminando la ciudad. Barcelona como experiencia urbana, curated by Estanislau Roca, Inés Aquilué and Renata Gomes, has prologues by Oriol Bohigas, Itziar González, Horacio Capel and Ferran Segarra, and gathers collaborations by distinguished experts on architecture, urbanism and history of art, presenting a great tour around Barcelona. The book, published in English version in 2015, suggests thirteen tours around different areas of the city -from Ciutat Vella to Nou Barris, through Eixample and Meridiana, residential areas and universities-, together with an initial map and many pictures that bring us closer to the architecture, urbanism, sociology and history of Barcelona and the districts that build it. These tours offer a new way to see the city walking around Vila Olímpica, Gràcia, Nou Barris or the former industrial areas. Last, this work proposes a relflection on the understanding and representation of urban experience, the relation between individual and city, dialogue among cities. Each tour has a poem by Joan Margarit, inspired in the urban area it makes reference to.