National Theatre of Catalonia

The theatre traces back to contacts begun in the early 1980s between Max Cahner, then the Generalitat's councillor for Culture, and the actor Josep Maria Flotats, who was given the task of creating and organising the future Teatre Nacional de Catalunya. In 1988 the project for the building that houses it today was entrusted to the architect Ricardo Bofill.

Created by the Generalitat's Department of Culture, the theatre was built from 8 November 1991 on land ceded by Barcelona City Council, and the works ran until 1997. The limited company Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, SA, set up to manage it, was constituted in June 1995.

Activities began on 12 November 1996 in the Sala Tallers, with the premiere of Àngels a Amèrica (Angels in America: Millennium Approaches) by Tony Kushner. The official opening came on 11 September 1997, with a production of Santiago Rusiñol's L'auca del senyor Esteve directed by Adolfo Marsillach.

The complex is made up of two distinct structures. The main building, shaped like a Greek temple, contains the Sala Gran and the Sala Petita, the main foyer, an area for the artists, offices and the supporting services. It has a surface area of 20,000 m², under a gabled roof held up by 26 columns 12 metres high.

The second building, an auxiliary one, accompanies the overall composition and looks both traditional and modern. It holds the theatre's workshops and the Sala Tallers, a multipurpose hall where all kinds of productions can be staged.

The main foyer is conceived as a large agora enclosed in glass: an air-conditioned space with a great deal of natural light, where the ticket offices, cloakroom, café and information desk are gathered. Escalators and a panoramic lift lead to an upper foyer of 800 m², the former restaurant, above the Sala Gran. From this foyer the gardens and the city can be seen; by day, light floods the space.

The main foyer is reached by the staircase of the main façade, which faces the sea and stands opposite plaça de les Arts, a garden area ringed by palms and olive trees. The main garden, planted with lawn and olive trees, has the façade of the main building as its backdrop; the Tallers building has its own private garden.

The Teatre Nacional de Catalunya is a public cultural institution, created to contribute to the country's cultural growth through the performing arts; among its objectives is promoting the Catalan language by that means.

Three halls host the performances: the Sala Gran, the Sala Petita, whose capacity varies with the production, and the multipurpose Sala Tallers. The bar occupies the main foyer and an outdoor terrace. The halls, foyers and gardens can be hired for events; the gardens have hosted cocktail parties, open-air concerts, castells and correfocs.

The theatre is a working one: people come for the performances, and its main garden is open to the public. The Sala Gran entrance is at plaça de les Arts, 1, and the ticket offices are in the main foyer; the Sala Petita is reached from the Sala Gran foyer or from carrer Padilla, and the Sala Tallers, with its own ticket offices, from carrer Ribes. Lifts make access to the main foyer and the Sala Gran easier for people with reduced mobility.