The Mar High School already has the five finalist architectural studies

BarcelonaThe Gran Teatre del Liceu already knows which are the five architecture studios finalists of the competition for the construction of the . They are the following: Sanaa, the studio founded by Japanese Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, Pritzker Prize 2010, with CFA; Batlle i Roig associated with Norwegian Snøhetta, designer of the Oslo Opera House; Barozzi Veiga with Maio and Burgos Garrido; Japanese Sou Fujimoto with Gras and Aldayjover; and b720 with Decas, the studio of British and responsible for the Barcelona City of Justice.In other words, five candidacies with Catalan presence: the Girona-based studio CFA, of and Josep Camps;

, who are currently renovating the , on Barcelona's Rambla; the Barcelona-based studios of ), and Maio Arquitectes; another Barcelona-based studio, Aldayjover (which has carried out the river restoration of the Manzanares River and won ), formed by Iñaki Alday, Margarita Jover, Jesús Arcos and Francisco Mesoner, and associated with the Majorcan Gras; and , Fermín Vázquez's studio responsible for the new Encants Market.These five finalists come from the 55 candidacies submitted. The selection, made by a jury chaired by urban planner Martha Thorne, has chosen the finalists by evaluating the files provided by the candidates, information that did not propose a specific proposal but a team with at least five heads in architecture, urban planning, acoustics, audiovisual communication and new technologies. From now on, each finalist can present the project with models and renders; that is, with the final design. In this phase, which will be decided from the 2026-2027 season onwards, the four studios that do not win will receive a remuneration of 25,000 euros.

Liceu Mar will not be just a facility to expand the artistic offerings of the Liceu. The location in Port Vell implies the urbanization of 46,000 m², of which the building itself represents only between 10% and 15%. Therefore, an integral transformation of Moll d'Espanya will be necessary, and indispensable collaboration with the Barcelona City Council and the Port of Barcelona. The urbanization will entail the disappearance of the Imax building and the burial of the road, vehicle access, which will allow the building to approach the water facing Barceloneta. Currently, work is being done with the projection that all of this will cost 70 million euros.

The objective of the Liceu is for Liceu Mar to be a 9,000 m² building, with a hall with 900 seats, three rehearsal rooms, 900 m² of lobby and two restaurants. The artistic programming of this second venue of the Liceu will have its own personality, complementary to that of the Gran Teatre del Liceu. The inauguration date has not yet been determined, which could be from 2030 onwards.

The 5 finalists for the Liceu Mar project

Sanaa + CFA

The union between the Japanese studio Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, star architects (Pritzker Prize 2010) and authors of emblematic buildings such as the Onishi Town Hall; and that of Olga Felip and Josep Camps, with civil works such as the Tortosa judicial building.

Batlle i Roig + Snøhetta

Among the works of the Norwegian studio Snøhetta is the splendid Oslo Opera House. And the work ofEnric Batlle i Joan Roig includes urban planning projects such as the development of Gallina Blanca island in Sant Joan Despí, the Mercedes eco-district in Barcelona, and the renovation of the Teatre Principal, also in Barcelona.

Decas + b720 + Cec

In this association is David Chipperfield, Pritzker Prize 2023, with a curriculum that includes the City of Justice of Barcelona, the renovation of the Royal Academy of Arts in London (2018), and the expansion of the Kunsthaus in Zurich; and b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectes, with projects such as the Sagrera station and the Mercat dels Encants, in Barcelona, and the Itaim Tower in São Paulo.

Barozzi Veiga + Maio + Burgos Garrido

Here the alliance is triple. On the one hand, Fabrizio Barozzi and Alberto Veiga, with musical experience because they built the Szczecin Philharmonic building (Poland). On the other hand, Maio Arquitectes, the studio of Maria Charneco, Alfredo Lérida, Guillermo López, and Anna Puigjaner, responsible for the renovation of Son Amengual Puig in Manacor and a building at Provenza street (no. 203) in Barcelona. Finally, Burgos Garrido, an architecture and design studio founded by Francisco Burgos and Ginés Garrido in Madrid, Mies van der Rohe award for Madrid Río.

Sou Fujimoto + Gras + Aladayjover

Another three-way partnership. Japanese Sou Fujimoto, with much of his work in his country, also designed the Montpellier Tree Building. The Mallorcan studio Gras, with projects such as the 86 homes in La Fuma, in Palma. And the Barcelona-based studio Aldayjover, expert in landscaping works such as the La Bonaigua Park in Sant Just Desvern and winners of the competition for the Three Chimneys in Sant Adrià de Besòs.