Universitat de Barcelona–Institut de Formació Contínua (IL3)

Students are still walking through these same brick corridors that once echoed with the clatter of textile looms... You're standing at the entrance to IL3, housed inside Can Canela, an early 20th-century textile mill that's been completely transformed but still whispers its industrial past through every restored beam and brick wall. When the University of Barcelona renovated these 5,000 square meters back in 1996, they kept the soaring ceilings and original ironwork that made this place hum with productivity for decades. The building you're about to enter represents something pretty remarkable - in 2006, it became the physical home of a merger between two educational powerhouses: the hands-on Bosch i Gimpera Foundation and the University of Barcelona's distance learning specialists. Walk inside and you'll notice how the architects brilliantly balanced old industrial bones with cutting-edge learning spaces. Those massive windows that once lit textile workers now flood modern classrooms with natural light, while the original structural elements remind you that this neighborhood - the 22@ innovation district - has always been about making things happen. Over 63,000 students have passed through these transformed mill floors since 1993, turning this former factory into Barcelona's most unlikely academic success story.