Diagonal ZeroZero

This tower displays one of the most emblematic images of contemporary architecture in Barcelona. Emerging on the horizon as lightweight as a dream, the sculptural structure with crisscrossing aluminium profiles stands at the seaside end of the Diagonal avenue.

Torre Telefónica Diagonal ZeroZero was designed by Estudi Massip-Bosch Arquitectes, shortly EMBA. The shape responds to the triangular form of the site, and the height of 110 meters makes it is the fifth tallest building in Barcelona.

EMBA developed a few structural innovations here. The building is a variation of the tube-in-tube scheme, in which the core is built in concrete, and the perimeter – in steel. Here, the outer structure is split in two rings, allowing a free plan. The exterior ring forms the rhomboidal net of the facade, serving also as shadow louver and giving the building its characteristic look.

The tower marks the origin of Diagonal Avenue, no. 0, and stands right between the Forum area and La Mina neighborhood. La Mina was initially built to house the flow of immigrants arriving from diverse Spanish regions in the mid-sixties, and has been perceived as an area of social degradation. 2004 brought to the vicinity what today is Museu Blau (Herzog & de Meuron’s Universal Forum of Cultures), followed by more and more office and hospitality buildings.

Diagonal ZeroZero tower hosts the corporate headquarters in Catalunya of Telefónica Group, as well as its Research and Development Center. The building is built on land owned by the City of Barcelona, was developed by the public agency Consorci de la Zona Franca, and leased to Telefónica Group.

The plaza of the tower is an exquisite combination of triangular buildings – one vertical, the Diagonal Zero Zero, and one horizontal, Museu Blau.

From here, the view opens towards the entire length of the Diagonal avenue with its high rise buildings going until the Agbar tower.

Barcelona is a city in love with architecture, and this new area between the Diagonal and the seaside, or 22@ (22 hectares of new buildings intended to be the technological vanguard of the city) makes no exception. Besides EMBA and Herzog and de Meuron, 22@ has so far attracted the talents of Jean Nouvel and b720, Miralles-Tagliabue, Dominique Perrault, Battle i Roig, or Josep Lluis Mateo.