On Tuesday, the City of Bilbao authorised the opening of the works and works of expansion of the Museum of Fine Arts in the first quarter of 2021, with the forecast of its completion in 2023. The works will involve an extension of 7,400 square meters, according to a project designed by the British architect Norman Foster.

So far nothing is striking, except perhaps the brilliant names of Norman Foster, a world-renowned architect who already knows in Bilbao the works of this architect who designed the accesses to the meters. However, from the history behind this new work, striking coincidences begin to appear.

Luis Fernández-Galiano, one of the patrons of the “Norman Foster Foundation”, was one of the judges who had to decide who to award the project. It is therefore not surprising who has been awarded the reform project of the Museum of Fine Arts, although it raises doubts about the composition and transparency of the bodies making decisions of this kind.

This is not the first time that Fernández Galiano and Norman Foster have joined in a public work. In the competition for the construction of an expansion of the Prado Museum in Madrid in 2016, the scheme was also identical: Galiano on the jury, the project in Foster's pocket.

In the case of the work of the Museum of Fine Arts, the City Hall of Bilbao wanted to take a little more care of the forms, presenting the project that was assigned to the advisory council of ordination of the city – according to EITB, “in this forum are participation of neighborhood associations and different entities”. With this little makeup, everything is prepared for the two new floors that the architect will build on the western facade of the bilbain pine grove, as well as for the staircase that will regain traditional access.