National Theatre of Catalonia

The Teatre Nacional de Catalunya is a theatre complex consisting of two independent buildings that, together with the Auditori designed by Rafael Moneo, constitute one of Barcelona’s major cultural centres. It stands near Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, whose restructuring was part of a policy to endow outlying districts with new life by moving large-scale cultural facilities from the city centre to the periphery.

The main building is accessed by means of a large staircase and has two skins: an exterior one consisting of a Pilkington Planar curtain wall and an interior one of architectural precast concrete. The huge vestíbulo (foyer), the gran sala (auditorium) with a seating capacity of 900, and the stage with its corresponding installations are contained beneath a single metal gable roof on large three-dimensional trusses, resting on architectural concrete columns.

The foyer acts as an anteroom to the auditorium. It’s transparent and adorned with plants, like a greenhouse, and is a meeting place par excellence. It accommodates the box office, bar, and cloakroom, and provides access to the sala experimental on the floor below, which has a seating capacity of 400. A glass lift and two escalators, visible from top to bottom, climb towards a large interior terrace and an adjoining restaurant. The view from here encompasses the entire foyer and the surrounding cityscape.

The gran sala, the core of the building, is Italian in style. The stalls are without balconies, but are steeply sloped to provide each member of the audience with maximum visibility. A semicircular gallery gives access to the different levels through stairways at both ends, and adds a touch of theatricality to the space. This hemicycle meets a big rectangle of mouldings that frames the stage.

The space above the cross-shaped stage is 40m high, which means the sets may be moved both horizontally and vertically according to the needs of the mise-en-scène. Two cubic volumes, one on either side of the stage, house the dressing and machine rooms, while the administration offices and the rehearsal room are at the top of the volume behind the stage.

The difference in treatment between the two auditoriums marks an interplay between the classical and the modern. While the gran sala features fine materials such as Greek marble and sycamore wood, the finish of the sala experimental is almost rustic, allowing for any kind of set thanks to mobile tiers and tubular structures reminiscent of scaffolding.