L'Illa Diagonal (Rafael Moneo)

The project for the Illa Diagonal, which was completed in 1993, is unusual in many ways. It has been described as a horizontal skyscraper and, in urban planning terms, is a mixed-use superblock development. The building was designed by the 1996 Pritzker prize winner, Rafael Moneo, and the architect Manuel de Solà-Morales. The main block, which houses a shopping centre, hotels and offices, extends for 300 m along Avinguda Diagonal. Its rectilinear, stepped volumes are inspired by the Rockefeller Center in New York. The dark colour of the lower half of the building is broken up at street level by numerous entrances to the building. It contrasts with the light stone cladding on the upper levels. The language of the rear façade is more openly modern, with horizontal windows and sunshades. Inside the shopping centre there is a central retail street at ground level with access to the upper floors. It emerges onto a spacious interior courtyard where glass walls combine harmoniously with metal cladding. Another unique feature of the project is the basement-level access from Carrer Constança, which runs below Avinguda Diagonal and the building. The rest of the block is occupied by a central park and other amenities in volumes that are separate from the main building.