CaixaForum Barcelona is a

cultural center A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Asia * Ce ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Located in the

Montjuïc Montjuïc () is a hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Etymology Montjuïc translates to "Jewish Mountain" from medieval Latin and Catalan, and remains of a medieval Jewish cemetery have been found there. Some sources suggest that Montjuïc ...

area in a former

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

textile factory designed by

Josep Puig i Cadafalch Josep Puig i Cadafalch (; Mataró, 17 October 1867 – Barcelona, 21 December 1956) was a Catalan '' Modernista'' architect who designed many significant buildings in Barcelona, and a politician who had a significant role in the development of ...

, it is owned by the not-for-profit banking foundation "

la Caixa La Caixa, also known as the "La Caixa" Foundation ( es, Fundación ”la Caixa”), is a not-for-profit banking foundation based in Catalonia. Originally a savings bank (''caja''), it reorganized in the 2000s and 2010s: Its commercial assets are ...

". After a restoration of the building, the art center opened its doors in 2002 and since then it hosts temporary art exhibitions and cultural events.

The building

The building was originally commissioned as a

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

factory by Casimir Casaramona i Puigcercós, and built by the famous Catalan Modernism architect

. Called the "Casaramona factory", it was completed in 1911, and the same year won the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

's award for best industrial building. The factory closed in 1919, but reopened as a warehouse for the

1929 Barcelona International Exposition The 1929 Barcelona International Exposition (also 1929 Barcelona Universal Exposition, or Expo 1929, officially in Spanish: ''Exposición Internacional de Barcelona 1929'' was the second World Fair to be held in Barcelona, the first one being i ...

. In 1940, the building was used as a cavalry barracks for the Spanish

Armed Police Corps The ( en, Armed Police), conventional long names ( en, Armed and Traffic Police Corps) and ( en, Armed Police Forces), —popularly known as ( en, the grey ones) owing to the color of their uniforms— was an armed urban police force of S ...

, and it was used as such until "

banking foundation Banking foundation is a type of foundation that originated as a bank. The banking reforms split the banks (usually local and community owned savings banks, as a statutory corporation) into limited company and holding company (or banking foundation). ...

bought it in 1963. It was opened as a cultural center in February 2002. The building was restored prior to its opening, and a new entrance was built, designed by Japanese architect

Arata Isozaki Arata Isozaki (磯崎新, ''Isozaki Arata''; born 23 July 1931) is a Japanese architect, urban designer, and theorist from Ōita. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 1986 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2019. Biography Isozaki was ...

, in a process that included firing 100,000 bricks to match the original ones. The center, has almost three acres of exhibition space, a media library, auditorium, classrooms and a restaurant. Visitors descend by escalator to the basement lobby, adorned by a

Sol LeWitt Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism. LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he pref ...

mural, then rise again to the exhibition spaces on the ground floor, within the crenelated brickwork.Emma Daly (September 15, 2002)
Glorious Recycling: Barcelona; Art in an old mill and Gaudí by bus
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

Gallery

File:CaixaForum Barcelona- entrance.JPG, Main entrance, designed by

File:CaixaForum Barcelona- passadís interior.JPG, Interior courtyard, showing distinctive window shapes and brickwork File:CaixaForum Barcelona - maqueta.JPG, A model of the building

References

{{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Catalonia Museums in Barcelona La Caixa

The building

Gallery

See also

References