Completed in 2005 to designs by the French architect Jean Nouvel, the Torre Glòries — originally the Torre Agbar — is the landmark of Barcelona's reinvented industrial east. The 144-metre tower tapers to a rounded dome, its skin a double layer of glass louvres and coloured aluminium panels that Nouvel said was inspired by the jets of the Montjuïc fountain and the silhouette of Montserrat. By day it shifts through blues and reds depending on the light; by night more than 4,000 LED devices turn the whole shaft into a shimmering beacon.
The tower anchors the Plaça de les Glòries, the great traffic junction that the city has been slowly converting into a park, and the surrounding 22@ technology district built among the old factory blocks of Poblenou. A viewing platform and a small museum, the Mirador Torre Glòries, occupy the upper floors, with a 360-degree outlook over the city and the sea — though the most striking view is simply of the building itself, lit up against the night sky.