Barcelona had fond memories of the
Universal Exposition of 1888, which represented a great advance for the city in the economic and technological fields, as well as the remodeling of the
Ciutadella Park. Therefore, in the 1920s, a new exhibition was planned to showcase the new technological advances and promote the image of
Catalan industry abroad. Once again, the exhibition led to the remodeling of a part of the city, in this case the
Montjuic mountain, as well as its surrounding areas, especially the ''
Plaça d'Espanya. But numerous actions were also carried out throughout the city, such as the remodeling of Plaça de
Catalunya; the landscaping of Plazas Tetuán, Urquinaona and Letamendi; the construction of the Marina Bridge; and the extension of Avinguda Diagonal to the west and Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes to the southwest. Various public works were also carried out: street asphalting and sewerage were improved, public toilets were installed and gas lighting was replaced by electric lighting. Several buildings were remodeled, such as the City Hall and the Generalitat
, the Post Office building and the Estación de Francia'', which had been under construction for several years, were completed, and the
Royal Palace of Pedralbes was built as the residence of the royal family. Finally, the city's communications were improved, with the construction of the
El Prat Airport, the improvement of links to the suburbs, the electrification of public
streetcars and the extension of
Metro line 1. All these public works led to a strong demand for employment, causing a large increase in
immigration to the city from all parts of Spain. The Exposition meant a great urban development for Barcelona, as well as a testing ground for the new architectural styles developed at the beginning of the 20th century. Locally, it represented the consolidation of
Noucentisme, a
classicist style that replaced the
modernism that prevailed in Catalonia during the turn of the century. It also meant the introduction in Spain of international
avant-garde trends, especially
architectural rationalism, through the
German Pavilion of
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. As for the Plaza de Cataluña, it was extensively remodeled. It was formerly an esplanade on the outskirts of the medieval center, which did not begin to be developed until 1902. This square was not foreseen in
Ildefonso Cerdá's Eixample plan, and was added to the project by the Barcelona City Council as a link between the old city and the new neighborhoods that emerged after the demolition of the medieval walls. Since 1860, several buildings were built, such as houses and entertainment venues of various kinds, such as circuses and theaters. For the
Universal Exposition of 1888 some gardening work was done and a pond with a fountain was installed in the center of the square. Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the land necessary for the square was expropriated, and in 1902 the first effective intervention was made, in the form of paths and flowerbeds, with a layout in the shape of a cross. Since then, several urbanization projects were considered but did not come to a successful conclusion, the last one designed by
Josep Puig i Cadafalch in 1915. Finally, in 1923, a competition was organized among professors of the
School of Architecture, and on February 17, 1925, the project drawn up by
Francesc Nebot, director of the School and deputy mayor of Public Works, was chosen, leading a team formed by
Pere Domènech i Roura,
Enric Catà,
Eugenio Cendoya,
Félix de Azúa and
Antoni Darder. The works took place between 1926 and 1929, although during their progress the square was inaugurated by
Alfonso XIII on November 2, 1927. In the middle of the process, in January 1927, Nebot resigned as director of the works, because the council rejected his intention to place in the upper part of the square a pavilion with a colonnade decorated with female sculptures. He was replaced by
Joaquim Llansó, assisted by
Josep Cabestany and
Nicolás María Rubió Tudurí. A public competition was organized in 1927 to decorate the square, with a jury made up of politicians and municipal technicians and a representation of the main artistic entities of the city. Ninety projects were presented, of which the allegorical groups of
Wisdom and
Work by the Oslé brothers were chosen to appear in front of the Ramblas; three allegories of the Catalan provinces (
Barcelona, by Marès;
Gerona, by Parera; and
Lérida, by Borrell) —the one of
Tarragona was commissioned out of competition to Jaume Otero—; 16 stone statues for the colonnaded pavilion designed by Nebot, with works by Viladomat,
Tarrach, Clarà, Llimona, Casanovas, Dunyach, Navarro, Arnau and Gargallo; and 12 statues and high reliefs for the niches in the square, by the artists Llimona, Navarro, Arnau, Tenas, Duran, Monjo, Gargallo,
Alsina, Tarrach,
Renart,
Rebull and
Soto. However, because of the "notorious difference in style with the rest of the square" the works of the last five were finally rejected in March 1928, and replaced by others by Monjo, Marès, Otero, Parera and Borrell. On the other hand, the derogation of the construction of the upper pavilion meant that in May 1929 eight of the sixteen sculptures planned for that space were finally not placed, while the rest were placed on a terrace that replaced the pavilion. Lastly, the placement of
La Diosa by Clarà, a commission outside the competition, was approved. Finally, 28 works were installed:
Maternity, by Vicenç Navarro;
Young, by Josep Dunyach;
The forger, by Josep Llimona;
Woman with child and piccolo, by Josep Viladomat;
Female Figure, by Enric Casanovas;
Youth, by Josep Clarà;
Flute Shepherd, by Pablo Gargallo;
Navigation, by Eusebi Arnau;
Barcelona, by Frederic Marès;
Montserrat, by Eusebi Arnau;
Female Figure, by Josep Llimona;
Hercules, by Antonio Parera;
Woman with Angel, by Vicenç Navarro;
Tarragona, by Jaume Otero;
Fuente de los seis putti, by Jaume Otero;
Lérida, by Joan Borrell;
Mujer con imagen de la Virgen, by Enric Monjo;
El espíritu popular, by Jaume Otero;
Pastor del águila, by Pablo Gargallo;
Pomona, by Enric Monjo;
Wisdom, by Miquel Oslé;
The Goddess, by Josep Clarà;
Work, by Llucià Oslé;
Emporion, by Frederic Marès;
Fisherman, by Josep Tenas;
Woman, by Joan Borrell;
Montseny, by Jaume Duran; and
Gerona, by Antonio Parera. Originally there was also in the square the group
Niños cabalgando sobre peces (1928), by Frederic Marès, a fountain with water jets and four of the figures indicated in the title, which was moved in 1961 to the intersection of Gran Vía and Rambla de Cataluña. With regard to this set, some changes made on the way in the original project led to the replacement of several pieces and their transfer to other areas of the city. One of the main reasons was the cancellation of the pavilion designed by Nebot, so some of the sculptures made for this element were relocated in different places: four of them, executed by Eusebi Arnau, Josep Llimona, Enric Casanovas and Àngel Tarrach, were placed on the entrance wall of the Royal Palace of Pedralbes; two others, by Josep Dunyach (
Diosa) and Vicenç Navarro (
La noche), were installed in the park of the Citadel; and two more (
Fertilidad, by Josep Clarà, and
La vendimiadora, by Pablo Gargallo), in the
Miramar Gardens, in
Montjuic. Another reason for the surplus of works was the decision to make all the sculptural groups in the square in bronze —except for those on the upper terrace, which are in stone—, with the result that some works that had already been executed in stone had to be repeated, and the surplus were relocated:
Lérida, by
Manuel Fuxá, and
Tarragona, by Jaume Otero, which were installed on
Avinguda Diagonal, in front of the Royal Palace of Pedralbes. Finally, the work entitled
Marinada or
Danzarina, by
Antonio Alsina, was placed in the
gardens of the Umbráculo, in the Santa Madrona de Montjuic promenade, in this case because it was a female nude that was not seen with good eyes by the prevailing morals of the time. Between November and December 1928 various religious and parents' associations launched a moralizing campaign against the excess of
nudes in the square, which was answered between December 1928 and January 1929 by various artistic associations, and even a group of Catholic ladies who thought it "ridiculous to consider the nude in art as an obscene work". Even so, the moralizing campaign caused the withdrawal of Clarà's
La diosa for a few months, although it was later returned to its location. Its main achievement was the exile of Antonio Alsina's
Marinada to a secluded place in the mountain of Montjuic —this sculptor was left without a work in the square, since another of the initially approved works, Los bueyes de la abundancia, was discarded for stylistic reasons, and after a time stored in a warehouse, it is now in the park of Industrial Spain—. On the other hand, some of the works were mutilated, such as the first version of the
Tarragona de Otero group —currently on
Avinguda Diagonal—, which presented an integral female nude that had to be covered with a drape on the pubis, while a naked angel on a dolphin was eliminated. Since 1929 the sculptural ensemble of the square has remained practically unchanged, with the exception of the transfer in 1961 of the
Fountain of the children riding fish, or the replacement in 1982 of
the Goddess by Clarà by a copy, since the original was placed in the lobby of the Casa de la Ciudad. In 1937 a Monument to the Unknown Soldier was placed, work of Miquel Paredes, which was removed two years later after the victory of Franco's army. In 1959 the ornamental fountains were installed on the mountain side of the square, the work of Fernando Espiau Seoane. The last sculpture was placed in 1991, the
Monument to Francesc Macià by
Josep Maria Subirachs. In 1993 were replaced by copies of the
Youth by Clarà and the
Pastor of the flute of Gargallo, due to its state of deterioration. In 2008 works were carried out by the company RUBATEC to remodel the pavement surrounding the square, the mosaic that houses in the center and improve access by adding ramps. File:Tarragona, Jaume Otero.JPG|
Tarragona, by
Jaume Otero,
avinguda Diagonal. File:Eusebi Arnau - Marina1.jpg|
Marina, de
Eusebi Arnau,
Royal Palace of Pedralbes. File:Miramar- Fertilidad, Josep Clarà.jpg|
Fertility, de
Josep Clarà,
jardins de Miramar. File:Miramar- La vendimiadora, Pau Gargallo.jpg|
La vendimiadora, by
Pablo Gargallo,
jardins de Miramar. File:Deessa, Josep Dunyach.JPG|
Goddess, de
Josep Dunyach,
parc de la Ciutadella. File:La Nit, Vicenç Navarro.JPG|
The night, de
Vicente Navarro,
parc de la Ciutadella. File:Marinada, Antoni Alsina.JPG|
Marinada, de
Antonio Alsina, jardins de l'Umbracle,
Montjuic. == Description ==