20/11/2025
The City of Justice of Barcelona is a complex of several buildings that brings together the different legal departments of the city councils of Barcelona and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. Previously, these departments were scattered across 17 buildings in both cities, leading to its conception as a new urban district rather than a single architectural ensemble. The size, scale, and location of the buildings contribute to their integration into the surrounding environment, while a coherent architectural language unifies them under a single identity.
The total composition attempts to break down the enclosed and classical approach often used for this typology, instead creating relationships between the different working areas, public areas and landscape. No two buildings are placed parallel to each other creating a varied sequence of outdoor spaces. All eight buildings are conceived as formally restrained orthogonal blocks with load bearing, in-situ concrete façades. Each has a contrasting, although muted, colour tone and vertical, recessed windows.
Project: David Chipperfield Architects / b720 Arquitectos - Fermín Vázquez
competition 2002 - completion 2011
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Photography © Federico Kulekdjian
