Water has been fundamental to the evolution of cities from an architectural, historical, and cultural point of view. In a context of climate change and serious drought problems, it is more crucial than ever to raise awareness of the value of water and the importance of the heritage it has generated.
Since the founding of the first cities, the relationship between water and urban life has been decisive. In Barcelona, the 14.5-kilometre-long Comtal irrigation channel is the most notable example. This canal supplied the city with water from the 10th to the 20th century and was used for irrigation, to power mills, and later to supply the textile industries of Sant Andreu. The Comtal irrigation channel illustrates Barcelona’s social and economic development over a thousand years and, today, still provides environmental value to the neighbourhoods through which it passes.
During the Industrial Revolution, Barcelona experienced unprecedented demographic and urban growth. This led to the construction of several water towers and reservoirs, some of which became icons of civil engineering. Examples include the Eixample Water Tower, designed by Josep Oriol Mestres and inaugurated in 1867, and the Besòs Water Tower, built between 1880 and 1882 by Pere Falqués.
Another notable type of water heritage is reservoirs, among which the Reservoir of King Martin, a former water retention reservoir on the old estate of the Bellesguard tower and viaduct, and the Reservoir of the Waters of La Ciutadella, designed by Josep Fontserè in 1874, stand out. Although these unique spaces have lost their original function, the interventions of the architects Archikubik and Clotet & Paricio, respectively, have given them a new lease of life and a new use for the city.
This extensive tour of Barcelona illustrates how water architecture contributes both to cultural heritage and to current environmental challenges and is one of the city’s treasures to be preserved and promoted.
