The character of Miralles & Tagliabue’s design is set by the architects’ determination to embed The Hamburg Music School’s scheme within its existing buildings of the surrounding and tries to recognize the existing context. By connecting landscape and architecture and filling the resulting structure with color and light, the architects sought to express the energy and youth of the children and music who will use the school.

The site’s existing trees define the framework of the project, literally gets its character by intertwining with the architecture and continuing this landscape within the building itself, reading powerfully against the transparent facades of the building. These fragments of trees also shape the character of the school’s interior landscapes, dominating the views out and shaping details of the physical fabric. For example, the street elevation, for example, being supported on round pillars and beams designed to resemble arboreal fragments, standing as a metaphor for the trees outside of this building.

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Diagonal Mar (the Diagonal seafront district), a new district has sprung up and recently become an integral part of the Barcelona city. The district consists of residential areas, hotels and a modern shopping complex, as well as the new Centre Internacional de Convencions (International Convention Centre). The auditorium can host up to 3,200 people, making it the largest capacity conference facility in southern of Europe. The key element in the area is the Diagonal Mar Park, not just because of its 14 hectare site, but due to its design and characteristics.

The park was designed by the architect Enric Miralles, and combines the element of water with plants and a series of tubular structures on different levels, comprising an extraordinary ensemble which is ideal for a quiet stroll and where children can enjoy the large-scale play area. The 36 million-euro park is the third largest in Barcelona. This was the site of the first Universal Forum of Cultures held in 2004, involving debates, themed exhibitions and the World Festival of the Arts. By hosting this international event, it gave Barcelona a chance to revitalize decaying parts of the city infrastructure.

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