Isozaki Atea (‘Isozaki Gate’) is a project by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, who designed it together with the architect from Bilbao Iñaki Aurrekoetxea.
Arata Isozaki won the 2019 Pritzker Prize, the ‘Nobel Prize’ for architecture
Consisting of seven buildings, it is located in Bilbao in the Abando area with a total surface area of 84,000 square metres.
Puerta Isozaki was created to fulfil the desire to link the Ensanche (urban expansion in the centre of the city) with the Ría (estuary) of Bilbao. Asaka Isozaki offered a solution by creating steps more than 50 metres high with two buildings on either side of the steps to create the puerta (gate) to Bilbao.
It consists of two 23-storey twin towers that reach a height of more than 80 metres. The towers provide a unique perspective on the access to the Paseo de Uribitarte, which did not exist before. Mimicking the Piazza di Spagna in Roma, Isozaki Atea also has another five buildings between six and eight storeys.
The project was made with a range of materials, among them the glass that covers the façade of the towers and the brick and stone facing.
The complex is unique, and also has a footbridge that links the steps and the Isozaki towers with Calatrava’s Zubi Zuri Bridge.
Asaka Isozaki’s project was created in 2003 and is one of the biggest ever carried out in Bilbao in an effort to do away with the ‘grey face’ of the city. It is certainly worth a stroll along Paseo de Uribitarte to see the reflections that the towers create as the sun moves across the sky. Not only that, near Puerta Isozaki you can find excellent places to eat: consult our ‘Dónde comer’ (where to eat) section for bars and restaurants nearby and enjoy a day in Biscay’s biggest city.
Establishments nearby
Accommodation nearby
