Miquel Navarro, sculptor of walk-through cities, dies at 81

Miquel Navarro, the Spanish sculptor known for installations that visitors could walk through like miniature cities, died in Mislata, Spain, on 1 November 2026, aged 81. Mislata City Council announced his death; ARTnews said, citing El País, that he died after a long illness.

Navarro’s hometown, just outside Valencia, inspired his work. The council said he lived and worked there, developing much of his creative process in a studio in the Morería neighborhood.

Cities made for walking through

Navarro’s first “City” sculpture, La ciutat (1973–74), was presented at Galería Val i 30 in Valencia. His later installations grew from dozens to hundreds of geometric elements: blocks and truncated pyramids suggested homes and factories, while tall cylinders and columns stood in for skyscrapers. The early works used clay; later versions used metals including aluminum and iron.

A Guggenheim Museum description for a 2004 display of Wall City (1995–2000) interpreted the installations as places for confronting ideas about space and construction, with the human body serving as a measure of the city.

His inclusion in the Guggenheim Museum’s 1980 exhibition “New Images from Spain” in New York brought him international attention. In 1986, he represented Spain at the Venice Biennale and won the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Spain’s top national art award, given by the Ministry of Culture.

Sculptures in public

In Valencia, Navarro’s 75-foot painted-iron fountain Fuente Pública (1986) was intended to commemorate the transfer of water from the Júcar River to the city, the Guggenheim Bilbao says. Residents came to call it La Pantera Rosa, or The Pink Panther, because it acquired a pinkish hue and resembled the cartoon character.

His other public works include El Parotet in Valencia’s Penya-roja neighborhood and Cabeza con luna menguante (2001), L’Almassil (2010) and Caminante (2022) in Mislata.

Mourning and a studio open to the public

Mislata City Council declared three days of official mourning from 1–3 November, describing Navarro as a major figure in contemporary Spanish art whose internationally recognized work and name remain linked to his hometown. Navarro lay in state at his home and studio on 2 November.

Navarro donated 530 works to the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern in 2005. He established the Fundació Miquel Navarro in 2020 to preserve his legacy, giving it more than 400 works, including several city installations.

In June 2026, the foundation opened his Casa-Taller, or House-Workshop, to the public to display some of those works. The former warehouse had been his studio since the 1980s. Mislata mayor Carlos F. Bielsa described Navarro as a universal artist and a generous, humble friend deeply connected to the city. He said the studio would remain a legacy through which to preserve Navarro’s memory.