The doors that the Catalan artist Jaume Plensa has designed for the entrance of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona in homage to music, Antoni Gaudí, Joan Miró and the “diversity” of Las Ramblas in Barcelona, join the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the inauguration of the Liceu.

Plensa said that with the lobby doors he wanted to pay homage to Gaudí’s grilles and Miró’s constellations, which is why he has named them “Constel·lacions“, as well as to the “artery of diversity” of Barcelona, which for him is Las Ramblas. “Constel·lacions” will be installed in the three arcades of the main entrance of the theater and will be integrated without affecting other elements previously incorporated into the facade of Oriol Mestres of 1874 and recovered in 2019.

Jaume Plensa’s doors to be incorporated at the entrance of the Liceu

Plensa stressed that the doors are a conglomerate of letters that grow, with the color of moonlight, and remarked that humanity is marked by language, and therefore, in his creation, he wanted to show “alphabets of many cultures“.

“You already know my world of texts and alphabets. I like to mix different cultures because I think we are very good when we are together, keeping our individuality and small differences, but how good we are when we are together! And I think these doors are a tribute to diversity, even more so in Las Ramblas, which is the artery of diversity in Barcelona“.

Jaume Plensa

Despite admitting that he hates doors, as well as everything that closes, the artist has remarked that the more he sees the design the more he likes it – the doors will open vertically – and believes that they have been a success. In addition, he has remarked that they will also serve to “dignify the area” in what he has defined as a gift from the Liceu to the city and become the new face of the theater. Asked if he fears that the doors may be damaged, he said that it will provide a finish that supports very well the restoration without complications.

These are “quite light” pieces, in the artist’s words, weighing some 500 kilograms each and with a thickness of 1 centimeter of steel, which gives them rigidity and lightness at the same time. The president of the Liceu, Salvador Alemany, and the theater’s artistic director, Víctor García de Gomar, are confident that the doors will be installed at the start of the 2022-2023 season, towards the end of September. They have cost about 750,000 euros – Plensa has not wanted to collect his fees -, of which 50% is assumed by ACS Foundation, 35% through Feder funds and the remaining 15% by the theater, as reported by Europa Press.

Excerpt from El Mundo

The model of Plensa’s work for the Liceu | Photograph by FERRAN NADEU

“The doors presented two extraordinary challenges” adds Plensa. “One is the building itself, which everyone says is horrifying, but I think that when horror accumulates, it ends up being wonderful. I wouldn’t touch a comma of this building. I love the chandeliers at the entrance. And the second is that we are looking at an extraordinary work by Miró on Las Ramblas that I think has strongly marked many things in the city, including the tragic moment of the attack in the city, which ended right in front of the building“.

“In these «Constel·lacions» I wanted to pay tribute to the Liceu, to music, but also to think of an architect who has given us many days of glory in the city, Gaudí, and I chose the title precisely because of this world of Miró’s constellations, who is the one I especially want to pay tribute to” he added.

Excerpt from La Vanguardia

Plensa, with the model of his work for the Liceu | Photograph by FERRAN NADEU