Famed sculptor designs new doors to Barcelona opera house

The renowned Catalan sculptor Jaume Plensa will be in charge of changing the Barcelona Liceu opera house’s façade from next season with three new doors honoring music, Gaudí, Miró, and La Rambla boulevard’s diversity. 

‘Constel·lacions’ or constellations is the name that has been given to the three stainless steel doors adorned with big letters from several alphabets.

Plensa is also behind the scenography of Verdi’s Macbeth opera that will premiere next season, in February 2023. It will be an "emotional" show, the artist said during a press conference on Monday in which he presented his two projects. 

The doors that Jaume Plensa has designed will be fitted into the three arches forming part of the opera house’s main façade. Each one weighs between 500 and 600 kilograms and can be folded. This will allow closing the hall of the building to avoid "difficult situations" at night, such as "violence," homeless people sleeping, drugs, and prostitution.

The doors will allow full access to the Liceu and the design will play with light, ensuring it to be a unique experience. "It will be very beautiful and magical when people walk by," Jaume Plensa said.

Despite hating doors and everything related to "closing spaces," the Catalan artist decided to embark on the design after the request from the Liceu, and "the moment of reunion with the city after the pandemic," Plensa explained.

His main objective was to install the designs on the building. "Everyone says the building is horrible but I wouldn’t change a thing," he confessed. The doors will not need to change anything at all, not even the three historical lights that hang in the middle of each arch.

Overall, Constellations will cost €750,000, and the idea is to unveil the designs by the end of September.