Built on a previously monastic enclave near the historic Casa de la Caritat Meier's Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona



appears massive, bright, white, pristine and inviting, contrasting starkly with the rather down-at-heel surroundings it is intended to help regenerate. Clad in white enamelled-steel panels, the plaza elevation is animated by the horizontal louvers of the ramp-hall and by two plaster sculptural elements, a cut-out plane above the entrance and a free-form, top-lit "special exhibitions" gallery set in advance of the building at the eastern end of the main facade. The sculptural elements of the main facade show themselves to full effect in the Mediterranean sun in the square, while effectively filtering the sunlight entering the building. Inside generous circulation space and ramps benefit from the sunlight, while allowing a more subdued light level to permeate through to the rather plain exhibition spaces.