In1993 Bilbao City Council called for an International Competition in order to choose the best idea for the Master Plan of the Abandoibarra area right in the heart of the city, between the Guggenheim Museum and the Congress Hall. The team of Cesar Pelli & Associates, Balmori & Associates and Aguinaga & Associates was invited. Other competitors were Ricardo Bofill, Jose Antonio Fernandez Ordoñez, Eduardo Arroyo and Francisco Mangado.

On June 8th, 1993 a jury that included among others Francisco Javier Sainz de Oiza, Oriol Bohigas and Luis Fernandez Galiano, decided that the proposal of the team of Cesar Pelli, Diana Balmori and Eugenio Aguinaga was the one that offered more solutions to the city specific problems.

In a 300.000 sq. mt. site and with 210.000 sq. mt. of floor area a mixed uses development, that includes office space, apartments, a shopping center, an hotel, a university library and plenty of green zones, will be built.

The City Hall asked in 1994 for some changes in the project and finally in 1998 the third and definitive solution was approved and is now under development.