Torre Glories
Torre Glories
Barcelona from above
Torre Glories
As of May 2022, Barcelona has a new observation deck in town. The office building formerly known as Torre Agbar is now open to the public.
And it has a new name to boot – Mirador Torre Glòries. The view of Barcelona from the 30th floor is magnificent, but the highlight has to be Cloud Cities, an interactive sculpture by Tomás Saraceno.
For the ultimate experience, we’d recommend buying the combination ticket for EUR 25.
My Rating:
The positives:
An amazing feat of architecture! The panoramic view of Barcelona is great, but no visit is complete without the Cloud Cities experience, if you ask us!
Top tip: Make sure you leave at least 30 minutes between your two time slots (one for arrival and one for the sculpture experience). There’s so much more to see. And the audio guide is free to listen to via an app.
The negatives:
The view of the city is a bit limited. And unfortunately, it’s all to do with the architecture – the slats that look so good from the outside actually get in the way a bit. You can’t just look out and enjoy a clear view.
Tip:
The sculpture experience is not suitable for:
- Pregnant women
- Children under 16
- Older people who aren’t fully mobile
- People who suffer from vertigo, anaemia, claustrophobia, heart problems and breathing problems
- Wheelchairs and prams/pushchairs
Last Modified: 25.01.2024 | Céline
Torre Glòries
Tickets
Online-Ticket
EUR 15Admission to Glories Tower + Installation Cloud Cities (you can add this for another EUR 10 during the booking process)
Buy Ticket
1 Minute
at the Torre Glories
Brief Insight!
The 30th floor of the Mirador Torre Glòries has been open to visitors since May 2022! Here you can experience the ecosystem of Barcelona, enjoy a good view and – the highlight: climb the installation “Cloud Cities”!
Here’s what to expect from the visit!
Your
Celine
The details
at a glance
Opening Hours
April 1 – October 15
Daily, from 10.00 a.m. – 9.00 p.m
October 16 – March 31
Daily, from 10.00 a.m. – 7.00 p.m
Public holidays:
December 25th and January 1st: closed
24 + 31 December: 10.00 a.m. – 3.00 p.m.
Prices
Admission without Clouds Cities
EUR 15 for adults
EUR 12 for children between 5 – 17 years, seniors over 65 years
free entry for children under 5 years
Admission + Clouds Cities Experience
EUR 25 for adults
EUR 22 for children aged 16 + 17 years, seniors from 65 years
Information
Access is not suitable for:
– Children under 16 years old
– Pregnant women
– with dizziness, anemia, heart /breathing problems, claustrophobia
– drunk people
One must:
– be in good physical condition
– hand in everything (except the mobile phone).
– put on overalls
– comfortable (sporty) shoes
Torre Glòries
Photo Gallery
What is
there to see?
The Barcelona skyline wouldn’t be the same without Torre Glòries, formerly known as Torre Agbar. Everyone in the city has wondered what might be inside this unusual tower.
Well, now we can finally find out! Mirador Torre Glòries has been open to the public since May 2022. Some floors are out of bounds because they’re working offices, but the accessible areas still make for an excellent tour.
Before you can go up, you have to go down. The tour starts right at the bottom of the tower. And it starts with nature, chirping birds and facts and figures all about Barcelona’s ecosystem. Do you know how many flights land here every day? How much more limited our view of the stars has become since 1992? How much the sea level has risen?
Make the most of this opportunity to explore and learn about the impact of pollution on Barcelona’s ecosystem…
Listen to the sounds of the birds and the wind in the background. They’re live recordings from the front of Torre Glòries… The “Sirena” data art installation is a living soundtrack that responds to the wind speed, air pollution and temperature.
If you’ve booked for the standard tour, you can spend as much time here as you like. But if you’ve added the Cloud Cities Experience, you’ll need to keep an eye on the time, so you make it to the 30th floor on time for your second slot.
CLOUD CITIES
EXPERIENCE
Get ready for a wow moment when you make it up the 125 metres to the 30th floor. First, you’re met with a stunning view. And then you notice the giant interactive Cloud Cities sculpture by Tomás Saraceno. It takes up the space of another four floors! The whole platform will probably just make you think of outer space.
Depending on your ticket and timings, you might be able to wander round and enjoy the view now. Or it might be time for you to start walking through the clouds.
Let a member of staff know you’ve arrived and show them your ticket. They’ll run through a lengthy list of things you can and can’t do. You’ll have to leave your things in a locker. Don’t worry – you can take your phone with you! But it’ll have to be attached with a cord. And then you’ll have to put on some very attractive blue overalls. Looking good 😉
Time to get going! My first steps into the cloud were very nervous and wobbly. Will the perspex hold my weight? How strong is it? Ahhhh!
But after a while, I got used to it and was fully focused on the sculpture and what I could see below, above and all around me. It was an incredible experience! I’ve never done anything like it! Snuggle up with the cushions, look at the books and enjoy!
There are two routes through the sculpture – one that’s relatively flat and another that involves a bit more climbing high. For us, the only way was up! Let me warn you that it’s easy to miss the turning all the way up there, so keep your eyes open!
You should also know that it gets rather warm. You keep your own clothes on underneath the overalls and there’s no breeze whatsoever. As you can imagine, the space heats up quite a bit during the summer months. Make sure you’re wearing lightweight and loose-fitting clothing under those overalls!
Facts & Figures about Cloud Cities
9000 cables used
6000 meter length of cable
5000 connecting parts
1200 panels
267 anchor points
Who is Tomás Saraceno?
He is a performance and installation artist who was born in the Argentinian city of San Miguel de Tucumán in 1973. He studied in Buenos Aires, before moving to Berlin in 2001.
His art almost always has something to do with the creation of new living space. He links pods that “[…] are designed to created alternative living spaces in the face of climate change and population growth” through the medium of art (1822-Stiftung der Frankfurter Sparkasse).
The European Patent Office in Munich is home to similar sculptures by Saraceno. There’s also another Cloud Cities installation in the rooftop garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. And one at the Karlskirche in Vienna, another of our brilliantly diverse Museos cities.
The VIEW
OF BARCELONA
Once you’ve lost the overalls at last, you can turn your attention to the view…
Only, it’s not going to be quite what you expected. The slats that make the tower look so interesting from the outside actually get in the way. They’re obviously not all perfectly clean (understandable at this height) and they may be open or closed depending on how bright the sun is. You’ll have to work hard to get a good photo without them in the way.
If you look past the slats, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the city, the sea, the mountains and sights like the Sagrada Família, Montjuic and the MNAC. Can you spot Torre Mapfre and Hotel Arts? Both towers are actually a little taller than Torre Glòries, but they don’t have an official observation deck.
You can also see Torre Urquinaona from Mirador Torre Glòries – that’s another tower that recently started offering a panoramic view of the city from the 20th floor.
Top tip: I found that the sun was reflecting right on the Sagrada Família when I went in the late afternoon. It might be better to check out the view in the morning.
Torre Glories
A bit of History
The building was originally built by and named after the Grupo Agbar, which owns Aguas de Barcelona, the city’s water company.
The design is the work of French architect Jean Nouvel, who wanted to show his respect for Gaudí by making sure the tower would not be taller than the tallest Sagrada Família tower would be in the future. With a limit of 172 metres, he settled on 144 metres for Torre Glories in the end.
Nouvel also designed the Fondation Cartier and the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris as well as the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
The Torre Agbar building work was ongoing between 2001 and 2004. The official opening ceremony took place in September 2005. Despite the fact that some of the locals think the tower looks like a penis, they are at least a bit proud to have the building as part of their city skyline. 😉
The office complex was given the new name Torre Glòries when the Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes was redesigned. The plan was to transform the busy hub into a park with fields, sports facilities and space for cultural events. Work is coming along nicely! Cars have to use an underpass and half the park is already open for locals and tourists to enjoy. And there’s even a slide park for the kids.
56,000 slats were added to the outside of the concrete tower to make it look like a water fountain. The colour scheme of red, blue and orange goes from darker to lighter moving from the bottom to the top – almost like a reptile’s skin or the Font Màgica, the iconic fountain in front of the MNAC Museum. The slats do create the effect of liquid when viewed from a distance and especially at night. They can be adjusted into 16 different positions to respond to the amount of sunlight and the colours of the building change slightly each time.
Official website of Mirador Torre Glóries (EN): miradortorreglories.com/en/
Text and image rights: © Céline Mülich, 2022 – 2024
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