National Art Museum of Catalonia – Barcelona, Spain

The Montjuïc Museum is a defining landmark for Barcelona, crowning the hill as a civic and cultural focus. It stands within a powerful composition of terraces, steps and fountains – an ensemble shaped by history and intrinsically linked to the city. This project builds on that legacy, extending the museum into the surrounding landscape and reimagining its relationship with the public realm.

The landscape is our starting point. We transform the ascent into a continuous, shared journey – introducing a new parvis that opens the museum to the city and a step-free route that weaves through and over the Palau Victòria Eugènia. This expanded public path offers new perspectives across Montjuïc while making the experience accessible to all.

Galleries unfold as a cascading sequence of spaces, connected by an intuitive spine of circulation that balances vertical and horizontal movement – an experience shaped as much by landscape, light and view as by art itself.

A carefully integrated intervention beneath the hill connects the two palaces, revealing their relationship while preserving the symmetry of the masterplan. By opening edges and drawing gardens inward, the project creates a new harmony between museum, city and landscape – an evolving cultural destination for Barcelona.

Client: National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) 
Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Government), the Barcelona City Council, and the Spanish Ministry of Culture 
Architect: AL_A + aybar mateos arquitectos + Borrell Jover
Structural engineer: Fhecor  
MEP engineer: Bis
Sustainability consultant: Bis
Lighting design: Seam Lighting