Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture started its programme on 12 February with the presentation of the Barcelona Plain 2026–2035 model, a project designed to help understand and envision the city’s future development. 

Covering a total surface area of 84 m², the model has been produced using digital printing in 1,204 pieces that fit together like a puzzle. It encompasses the area stretching from the former mouth of the River Llobregat to the new port of Badalona, offering a precise and detailed recreation of Barcelona and its metropolitan surroundings.

Thanks to its modular configuration, which enables updates in line with the city’s evolution, and the integration of augmented reality technologies, the model serves as an interactive platform that helps explain Barcelona’s urban development and provides an integrated visualisation of its transformation processes. It aims to become a tool for collective knowledge, allowing citizens to reflect on, analyse and plan for the metropolitan Barcelona of today and tomorrow.

Driven by the Office of the Chief Architect of the Barcelona City Council, the project has been coordinated by the model workshop at the Vallès School of Architecture (ETSAV) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), under the direction of Àngel Garcia, with contributions from Windforce, DFactory and Barcelona Regional, Urban Development Agency.

A showcase of Barcelona’s present and future
The Barcelona Plain 2026–2035 model is conceived as an educational tool and a platform for urban analysis accessible to the wider public. Built at a scale of 1:1,500, its detailed reproduction of buildings, streets and urban fabric makes it possible to identify neighbourhoods and distinctive features, and to understand the structure and evolution of a metropolis in constant transformation.

The territory represented corresponds to the central part of the Barcelona metropolitan area, known as the Barcelona Plain, bounded by the Collserola ridge to the north, the lower course of the River Besòs to the east, the River Llobregat and its deltaic area to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south, including a total of 14 kilometres of coastline.

The model fully includes the cities of Barcelona, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Esplugues de Llobregat and Sant Adrià de Besòs, as well as parts of Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Badalona, Montcada i Reixac, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Molins de Rei, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Sant Just Desvern, Sant Joan Despí, Cornellà de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat. In total, 15 cities covering 177.5 km² and home to more than 2.4 million people.

Produced at DFactory—South Europe’s leading hub for Industry 4.0 innovation, located in the Zona Franca and specialising in technologies such as 3D printing and advanced manufacturing—the model was fabricated in polylactic acid (PLA), a thermoplastic material derived from plant starch. Its production required more than 21,000 hours of printing and roughly 950 kilograms of material, with up to 10 printers working simultaneously.

Designed as a living, updatable object, the model’s 1,204 pieces are fully removable and replaceable, allowing future urban transformations to be incorporated as the city evolves. This modularity turns the model into a dynamic tool capable of expanding and adapting, making it possible to represent new projects, infrastructures and urban interventions. Beyond offering a snapshot of the present, it becomes an ongoing support for explaining Barcelona’s evolution and visualising urban planning processes in real time.

To make this possible, a three‑dimensional digital model of Barcelona was developed with the support of AI tools, through a complex eight‑month process involving a multidisciplinary team of architects, geographers and engineers.

The model features four viewing devices resembling vintage binoculars, each mounted on its own stand. Using augmented reality overlays, these devices turn the model into an interactive platform that helps users understand the city’s urban evolution and view its transformation processes in an integrated way.

They will also serve as supports for future exhibition narratives projected over the model. For the inauguration, an initial AR experience has been created by Layers of Reality, a leading company in virtual, augmented and immersive reality content. This first installation focuses on UNESCO World Heritage buildings, the key venues of the World Capital of Architecture across the city’s districts and the event’s main communication axes. 

Permanent exhibition at the former Gustavo Gili publishing house building
The model will open to the public on 13 March at the former headquarters of the Gustavo Gili publishing house, the central venue of the World Capital of Architecture, where it will remain on permanent display as a new reference space for the dissemination of the city’s architecture and urban planning. It will be open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

As part of a collaboration between the World Capital of Architecture and Fundación ONCE, a tactile model has also been created to allow visitors who are blind or visually impaired to understand the key elements of the city’s urban structure. This tactile model includes different relief and contrasting textures representing various urban fabrics, major streets and other significant elements.

The presentation event was attended by Pere Navarro, director of the Zona Franca Consortium, and Jaume Collboni, mayor of Barcelona, along with representatives from the organisations involved in the project.

More information

• Video of the production process of the Barcelona Plain 2026–2035 model