Sat, Sun and holidays: 9.30 to 15
Even though the famous Torre Agbar was built just a few years ago, in 2005, it has already become a symbol of Barcelona.
This huge tower is located next to Plaza de las Glories, serving as gateway to the technological district of Barcelona known as the 22 @ District.
With an height og 145, torre Agbar consists of a total of 38 floors four of them located underground. Along with Mapfre Tower and Hotel Arts, is the third tallest building in Barcelona.
The project of the tower was made by the French architect Jean Nouvel, creator of many different controversial buildings all over the world, such as the Dentsu building in Tokyo, the Galeries Lafayette in Berlin and the Angel in Prague.
The architect designed the building as a combination of different elements. On one hand the water, referred to the company housing the tower: Aguas de Barcelona “Agbar” (Water of Barcelona company); the second element is fire, represented by the red color; and finally the earth from which the tower emerges as a huge bullet going up to the sky.
How to get there
Public transport:
- Metro: L1, stop Glories.
- Bus: 7, 56, 60 and 92.
- Tram: Tram T4 and T5, stop Glories.
Access
Since the tower is occupied by the private group managed by the company Agbar, you can only visit the Hall of the building.
In this floor there are often temporary exhibitions for visitors and there is no admission fee.
History of Torre Agbar
When the architect Jean Nouvel planned the tower, he was inspired by some symbols of the local Catalan culture.
His sources of inspiration were the rounded shapes of the mountain of Montserrat, Catalonia's sanctuary per excellence and the towers of the Sagrada Familia built by Gaudí.
The architect used unusual materials and thought about the use of solar energy to reduce and save energy.
The building is built with glass pieces and aluminum plates, wich provide a peculiar color tonality depending on sunlight, from red to blue.
Behind these features there is a huge construction and an exhaustive work made by the architect: fixing charges criteria, studies of light, and location of the windows one by one, and floor to floor.
One of his greatest achievements is that this amazing tower is illuminated at night using more than 4,000 LED devices, projecting light images on its facade.