The Unusual Barcelona: five editions, a perspective of our own
The previous edition of The Unusual Barcelona sold out months ago, and many of you have been asking when it would return. Well, it’s here! This month sees the publication of the 5th edition of our independent Barcelona magazine-guide.
To put it together, we have explored the city once again, revisited our selection and added new places, features, interviews and photography. Inside, you’ll find recent discoveries alongside stories, projects and places that still interest us just as much as when we first encountered them. The Unusual Barcelona has always been about sharing what we believe is worth discovering, rather than simply bringing together the latest openings.
This fifth edition features more than 450 updated recommendations, organised by neighbourhood, alongside features, interviews and photography. It offers a personal perspective on Barcelona and its creative scene in an independent, advertising-free publication, where every page reflects our editorial choices.
More than 450 places, neighbourhood by neighbourhood
Restaurants, small cafés, galleries, museums, bookshops, hotels, independent shops, studios, bakeries, wine bars, cultural spaces… More than 450 places to eat, drink, shop and visit, offering a way into the city through its art, design, architecture, culture and way of life.
More than 450 recommendations for discovering Barcelona through its art, design, architecture, culture and way of life.
All are organised by neighbourhood, so you can look up what’s nearby as you wander through Barcelona, or combine different areas to create your own route. Long-established places sit alongside recent openings and small ventures you might otherwise walk straight past.
Barcelona through its creative voices
We also love discovering a city through the places other people choose. That’s why, in every edition, we invite people working in creativity, culture and design to share some of their favourite spots.
This time, our contributors include Jordi Labanda, Clara Narvión, Verònica Fuerte of Hey Studio, and Fer Villanueva of Otsu, alongside other creative voices from Barcelona.
Their choices join our own, taking us to restaurants, shops, galleries, cafés and tucked-away corners that become all the more interesting when we know who recommends them and why.
It’s one of our favourite parts of the publication because it brings something that cannot be reduced to a formula: personal taste. Each contributor offers a different sensibility and a particular relationship with the city.
SIGLA Studio, Flowers by Bornay, Mònica Figueras and Chidy Wayne
Features are once again an important part of this fifth edition. We explore the work of architecture practice SIGLA Studio, floral stylists Flowers by Bornay, photographer Mònica Figueras and artist Chidy Wayne: four names that take us into very different disciplines and creative worlds.
Barcelona’s creative voices share the places in the city they would always recommend.
We want to showcase their work while also discovering what lies behind it: how they work, where their ideas come from, their relationship with Barcelona and how they have developed their own approach to their discipline.
These are stories to take your time over, sitting alongside the recommendations and making room for the people and processes behind the projects.
Photography in its own right
Photography has always held an important place in The Unusual Barcelona. It runs through our features and the way we tell the city’s stories, while also having a dedicated space within the publication.
In this edition, we devote pages to the work of Fujico, Marta Vidal, Carla Step, Guillermo de la Torre, Romain Laprade, Martina Matencio, Kristina Tarasenko, Ely Sánchez and Yuhao Chang, among other photographers we admire. Some of their images take us to Barcelona; others lead us much further afield.
Their series broaden the magazine’s horizons, allowing us to share different ways of seeing, composing and telling stories through images.
How it’s made matters too
With the fourth edition, we took a significant step forward in the design and production of The Unusual Barcelona: we doubled the page count and introduced a format that brought us much closer to the publication we wanted to make.
After that edition sold out, we have carried the same approach into the fifth.
Its 128 pages measure 16.5 × 22 cm and are printed on premium Fedrigoni papers, with handcrafted Japanese binding and an exposed spine — one of its most distinctive features.
We have also retained the previous edition’s recyclable, vacuum-sealed packaging, designed to protect each copy and be reused after opening.
The care we take in selecting the content extends to the paper, printing, binding and design. We want the photographs to be reproduced as they deserve, the text to have room to breathe, and the transition from a feature to a selection of places or a photographic series to find its own rhythm.
A guide when you need a place to go. A magazine when you need inspiration.
Five editions on, this still feels like a good way to describe The Unusual Barcelona.
If you’re planning a trip, you can use it to map out your routes, find places beyond the usual recommendations and get to know the city through the people who make up its creative scene.
If you live here, you’ll recognise some places and discover others: a restaurant you haven’t tried yet, a gallery you didn’t know existed, a special bookshop or a good excuse to explore a different neighbourhood.
And even if Barcelona isn’t on your travel horizon, you can enjoy it as an independent magazine about photography, architecture, art, design and culture. Open it to discover an artist’s work, linger over a photographic series or come across a story you weren’t looking for.
A publication to read, refer to, take with you and keep.
A magazine-guide for discovering Barcelona, whether you live here, are visiting or simply want to be inspired by the city.
Where to find it
The 5th edition of The Unusual Barcelona is now available from our online shop and a selection of shops and spaces in Barcelona, other European cities and New York. We’ll continue replenishing stock at all of them over the coming days.
