The coastline in Barcelona has varied one kilometer since 1329. In June of that same year, a cathedral was built on the beach sand. The waves wet its facade and people walked barefoot to the altar.
Santa Maria lost its sea over the time but this church belongs to the sand. I thought it was necessary to move it.
This process is carried out by means of the insertion of a shoring and bracing system both inside and outside the church and later, with the construction of a slab on concrete rails, which is raised by hydraulic jacks, act as new forged.
At this moment, doubt is born, if the entire church is transferred, what happens in its current location? Two projects emerge from this decision:
With the permanence of the massive elements, its stained glass windows and the continuity of the shoring system as a new supporting structure, a plaza emerges. Then, Santa María de las Arenas is reborn, which bears the name of its predecessor, the Romanesque church that disappeared in the 14th century, and forms a new public space in Born neighborhood, trying to recover its memory. A tunnel between the present and the past of the city. A desire to return its etymology to the plaza.
Meanwhile, structural and cult elements are moving directly to the beach of Barceloneta. The first ones consist of pilasters, pillars, capitals, arches and buttresses, and the seconds ones of candles, altar, Santa María Virgin and Christ.