Time Out at 40

Calixto Bieto | Quim Monzó | Jaume Plensa

Jaume Plensa

Jaume Plensa
Jaume Plensa’s works fill and transform public spaces all around the world; inviting the spectator to pause and think. This Barcelona-born sculptor has also collaborated with the Fura dels Baus as a scenery and wardrobe designer.

How does it feel to be a Time Out hero?
Barcelona is the ideal place to nurture creativity, but I like my work to be displayed in other places. That’s why I’m so pleased and surprised that I’ve been chosen, because my life in the city is very low key.

Who are your heroes from Barcelona – both past and present?
Ildefons Cerdà. The Eixample is one of the most important things that Barcelona has given to the world on the conceptual level – a concept of the city. We read the Eixample as a grid, but Cerdà’s idea was much deeper and more contemporary, based on the idea of humanised space. In that sense, Barcelona has been a mirror for many of the world’s cities.

What’s the most important thing that has happened in the artistic field in Barcelona in the last 40 years?
Barcelona has always been home to famous names in the art world; people like Miró, Tàpies, Picasso, who were either born or trained here... In the last 40 years, Barcelona has seen many interesting things in terms of architecture, though we’re at risk of becoming victims of our own success. I don’t really agree with the city councils that are transforming Barcelona into another Platja d’Aro.
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What’s your favourite place in the city?
I used to go to the Miramar bar on Montjuïc, but it no longer exists, like the restaurants in Barceloneta that were built on the beach which were demolished for the Olympic Games. There are still a lot of interesting places, like the Olympic diving pool on Montjuïc, which is always closed, though I don’t know why, since it offers the most extraordinary views of the city.

What’s your favourite bar nowadays?
Mirablau, up at the end of the blue tram line. I like to see Barcelona from above because I think that the city has an African texture that makes you feel like you could be in Cairo or Marrakech.

How do you see Barcelona in 40 years?
Barcelona needs to define itself better. We need a better-defined city with more personality, especially on the architectural level, because it’s currently based on a number of emblematic buildings but lacks a defining idea as a whole. I’d like Barcelona to find a new way forward, like the concept mapped out by Cerdà. We should think more in terms of urban planning than in single buildings.

Barcelona has the shape of...
Barcelona is very circular, both visually and conceptually. It’s very much a closed city.

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Calixto Bieto | Quim Monzó | Jaume Plensa