Bac de Roda Bridge
C/ Felip II and c/ Bac de Roda
La Sagrera
Barcelona
Spain

Santiago Calatrava 1987

The TimeOut guide to Barcelona describes this bridge as 'one of the finest pieces of recent architecture in Barcelona.' Even as a Calatrava enthusiast I find that claim hard to justify as a visitor, though the bridge - completed in 1987, ahead of the Alamillo bridge in Seville - helped build Calatrava's reputation.

The site, to be fair, is aesthetically challenging: a road and foot crossing over a set of railway lines dividing an architecturally drear Barcelona suburb. The generously wide foot passages, beneath the canopies formed by each of the bridge's two inclined and split arches, create an attractive promenade across the former no-man's land.

From the road approach the bridge looks a little mean. You have to look along the railway, taking in the full extent of the bridge's arches hidden below road level, for a more flattering view. 

Simon Glynn 2001

How to visit

The bridge joins the Bac de Roda and Felip II streets in La Sagrera, a suburb on the east side of Barcelona.

Take Metro line 5 to Navas station. Alternatively, it's about ten minutes from the city center by taxi.

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