Jean Nouvel's Torre Agbar

Architectural Review, The, Sept, 2004 by Rob Gregory

With just two months until practical completion, Jean Nouvel's Torre Agbar has risen to become a popular new landmark for residents of the Catalonian capital, Barcelona. While local architects intellectualize and debate the structure's conceptual strength--as the pixellated concrete fuselage is steadily sheathed in multiple layers of profiled metal and glass louvres--for Nouvel and his team the facade's apparent complexity condenses their vision of the tower as a fluid mass; a 142m geyser piercing the ground under a consistent and measured pressure. Set against the ever-changing Spanish skies, the facade possesses mirage-like qualities, as shades of colour, angles of inclination and degrees of opacity combine to mysteriously freeze the skin in liquid form, with depth, luminosity and reflectivity in constant flux.

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While work on site progresses, the internal spaces appear less delightful, with colour coordinated concrete walls compressed between relatively low ceilings. However, premature evaluations may be too hasty and, as internal finishes are installed, including stainless-steel soffits and window reveals, the creative drama of the facade may well percolate to the offices within. Meanwhile at the scale of the city, the building not only provides an impressive headquarters for the Spanish water company, the Agbar Group, but also serves as a beacon for the ambitious redevelopment of Glories--the city's next major, and no doubt exemplary, civic transformation initiative.