Cloud Cities Barcelona occupies an area of 130m³ and is composed of 113 cloud spaces made of 5000 nodes connecting 6km of tensile cables. Moving through the air at a height between 4 and 10m relative to the floor, or becoming enveloped by the atmosphere of the cupola’s apex, participants can open to a novel sensory experience that converts this observatory into a suspended realm from which to look inwards and outwards, to gather and dialogue, immersed in the multiplicity of worlds made manifest in the changing shapes of passing clouds. Wandering along three paths of varying levels of complexity, participants can pause to find a rotating selection of books, in an invitation to inhabit shared time and consider alternative constellations of the urban public sphere, speculative architectures, the environmental crisis, and the entangled web of life. 

In the midst of climate emergency, war, global pandemics, racial-ecocidal capitalism, social exclusion, and the proliferation of clouds of pollution and misinformation, “Cloud Cities” is a proposal for a common imaginary for an ethical re-alliance with the environment, the planet and the cosmic web beyond anthropocentrism, his cloud-shaped sculptures, reminiscent of the geometric Weaire-Phelan structure of foam and soap bubbles, act as an invitation to engage from diverse bearings, where there is neither up nor down, no inside or outside, and all is floating. As part of this series, Cloud Cities Barcelona challenges the verticality of the observatory’s distant gaze through alternative geometries of togetherness, so as to suspend social distances and collectively consider the multi-scalar threads of relation that weave our shared but threatened world and bind our interdependent fates.

Cloud Cities Barcelona Public Program

On May 20th, the first of a series of free moderated conversations will take place with renowned architects, curators, activists, and local thinkers to explore key issues around urban public spheres, the environmental crisis, speculative architectures, terrestrial and cosmic clouds and webs of life. The conversations will be moderated by Joseph Grima and Tomás Saraceno and will begin at 18:30 at Mirador torre Glòries.

Cloud Cities Barcelona Library

In addition, floating inside Cloud Cities Barcelona, find a rotating selection of books to consider together alternative constellations of the urban public sphere, speculative architectures, the environmental crisis, and the entangled web of life.

Cloud Cities Barcelona Publication

Edited by Space Caviar and Studio Tomás Saraceno, a publication stemming from the Cloud Cities Barcelona Public Program will be released in the second half of 2022. Through a series of conversations, short texts, visual documentation and historical references, it will provide an expanded window into Saraceno’s ongoing interest in the cultural and scientific value of clouds, situating the artwork within his broader artistic output. This publication will mirror the communal contemplations, dialogues, and critical reflections that emerge within Cloud Cities Barcelona, weaving many of the social, architectural and environmental challenges posed by cities today.