Animals will be the stars of the nativity scene in the Sant Jaume Square
The architect Jordi Darder has designed an integrative and collaborative proposal that spreads out into the adjacent streets and invites pedestrians to become part of it.
The Christmas Nativity scene is the re-enactment of a historical event that defines us as a culture. It has been enriched over time and through the adoption of various transformations. In addition, the Nativity is also a mirror of ourselves: the representation of the virtues that should define us as a model society and in which the animals are the earthliest metaphor. In it, we can see, for example, the faithfulness of the sheepdog, the perseverance of the rooster, the firmness of the bull, the cunning of the cat, and the elegance of the swan.
For this reason, this year's Nativity scene at the Sant Jaume Square will give the spotlight to animals. The façades of the Town Hall and the Generalitat will feature a bull and a mule made out of lights, respectively, which will be illuminated after dark.
As a novelty, the Nativity scene will go beyond its traditional enclosure. It will extend from the intersection between the streets of Ferran and Jaume I all the way up to the Rambla and Via Laietana intersection, creating a continuous landscape. Thanks to the collaboration of the neighbourhood's residents, a series of luminous silhouettes will be on the first-floor balconies of the buildings that make up that specific section of the city, allowing pedestrians to walk inside the Nativity scene and become part of it.
The project will be completed with an exhibition of Nativity scenes created by promising young artists from different disciplines, such as sculpture, painting, audiovisual arts, and established artists in typography, engraving, photography, artistic forging and tapestry, as well as Nativity scenes associations and various educational centres in the city. All scenes will be on display in some shop windows, inside shops, banks and institutional spaces to reinforce the collaborative and multidisciplinary spirit conceived by Darder.