This guide (Barcelona 1979-2012. Contemporary Architecture City Guide)begins, intentionally, with the year that the first municipal elections were held (after the Franco dictatorship time). It thus spans the period of democratic government in the city from 1979 to the present day. Many transformations have occurred during this time, in particular in the urban and social realms. The links created between the city's various neighbourhoods, the opening of new squares and, above all, the infrastructure put in place for the Olympic Games hosted in 1992 laid the foundations for a new urban model, which has been praised by experts around the globe in the last 15 years.

This guide, with its lavish, up-to-date visual information, features a wide-ranging series of works, from modest urban improvement plans to the ambitious projects undertaken by world-renowned architects such as Herzog & de Meuron, Arata Isozaki, Norman Foster, Toyo Ito and Jean Nouvel.

• This pocket guide in three languages (English, Spanish, Catalan) is an up-to-date, detailed digest of the evolution of the architecture and urban development of Barcelona from the city’s origins to the present day.

• This volume included ambitious projects like the22@new technological districtin Barcelona'sPoblenou, theurban transformation of the La Mina district with the Fòrum 2004 or the new business area on Gran Via