Christ & Gantenbein, in collaboration with local firm HARQUITECTES, have won the international competition for the expansion of the MNAC | National Art Museum of Catalunya in Barcelona.
The project extends the museum into the Palau Victoria Eugenia — one of the city's earliest concrete structures, designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch — located at the foot of Montjuïc Hill alongside the iconic Palau Nacional.
The winning proposal balances restraint with ambition. Its defining gesture is a bold horizontal incision at the base of the Victoria Eugenia building, opening a new entrance toward Plaça Carles Buïgas. From here, a layered circulation path winds along the building's perimeter, threading through the topography until it reaches the existing museum.
This passage — simultaneously interior corridor and urban promenade — dissolves the boundary between institution and city, punctuated by a café, auditorium, shop, and public areas distributed along the route. Above, a new walkway traverses the rooftops, paved in glass bricks that channel daylight into the spaces below and offer sweeping views across Barcelona.
Inside, the protected exhibition halls retain their monumental open-plan character beneath skylights. Circulation is shifted to the perimeter to preserve the integrity of the heritage spaces, while the flexible layout can be reconfigured between temporary and permanent displays as the museum's programming evolves.
Sustainability runs through every decision. New construction uses recycled concrete — a deliberate echo of the pavilion's original material — while the 42-meter elevation difference between the two buildings is harnessed for passive ventilation through natural convective airflow. Excavation is kept to a minimum by working with the existing topography rather than against it.
The jury praised the project for embodying the museum's public mission and for the clarity with which it connects building to urban fabric — opening the MNAC outward, and inviting the city in.
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Visuals: Christ & Gantenbein and Harquitectes, 2026
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