Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya

155 Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover (mNACTEC)

The National Museum of Science and Industry of Catalonia ( ca, Museu Nacional de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya) known by its acronym (mNACTEC) is one of the three national

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

s of

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 ...

, located in

Terrassa Terrassa (, es, Tarrasa) is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona, ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the co-capital along with Sabadell. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ' ...

, near

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 ...

. Its mission is to showcase and promote an understanding of scientific, technical and industrial culture, and furthermore to preserve, study and present the establishment and evolution of scientific and technical advances in Catalonia, their industrial application, and above all their social implications and impact. The museum is an Anchor point on the

European Route of Industrial Heritage The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a tourist route of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. This is a tourism industry information initiative to present a network of industrial heritage sites across Europe. The a ...

Building

005 Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover, embarrats de la fàbrica

The museum is housed in the iconic ''Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover'' in Terrassa near Barcelona. It was designed by the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

architect Lluís Muncunill for Messrs Aymerich, Amat i Jover in 1909. He solved the problem of roofing the immense weaving shed with row upon row of 161 shell-shaped half arches, each with gently curving windows: this served the same function as the saw-toothed north lights in a Lancashire

weaving shed A weaving shed is a distinctive type of mill developed in the early 1800s in Lancashire, :Derbyshire and Yorkshire to accommodate the new power looms weaving cotton, silk, woollen and worsted. A weaving shed can be a stand-alone mill, or a ...

. The columns broke up the usable space of the factory so had to be carefully placed around the looms. The columns functioned as rain water drainage, and held the

line shaft A line shaft is a power-driven rotating shaft for power transmission that was used extensively from the Industrial Revolution until the early 20th century. Prior to the widespread use of electric motors small enough to be connected directly to e ...

ing that transmitted power from the

stationary steam engine Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam cars ...

to the looms. The engine house and other parts of the building feature the

Catalan vault The Catalan vault ( ca, volta catalana), also called thin-tile vault, Catalan turn, Catalan arch, boveda ceiling (Spanish ''bóveda'' 'vault'), or timbrel vault, is a type of low brickwork arch forming a vaulted ceiling that often supports a floor ...

. The factory was severely affected by the flooding of 1963 ( ca, Riuada del Vallès) and it finally closed in 1978. It was bought by the state in 1983 and opened as a museum.

Museum

mNACTEC runs several museums across Catalonia, this one specialises on textiles. The aim of the museum is to provide a comprehensive overview of the history of knowledge and technology in Catalonia, and the process of industrialisation. It starts with the Neolithic revolution, shows power generation techniques with waterwheels, electricity and turbine drives and solar technology.

Collections

;Lluís Muncunill: the works of the architect ;Homo Faber: evolution of technology, from

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

times up to the

Industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

;The

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

(La Fàbrica Tèxtil):A complete cotton factory ;Enérgeia: Energy ;El transport i motos Montesa: Collection of cars, lorries, engines, aeroplanes, motorbikes and bicycles. ;La terrassa del Sol: experiments investigating the power and functioning of the sun. ;Mentora Alsina: Virtual visit to the physics laboratory of

Ferran Alsina Ferran () is a commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality ...

. ;Área d'interpretació del mNACTEC: multifunctional space relating to the industry of Catalonia. ;El cos humà: Intrepretation of the body and the Fundació-Museu d'Història de la Medicina de Catalunya, historic medical instrument collection.mnactec.cat collections

References

;Notes ;Footnotes

External links

Museum Website
{{Authority control Industry museums in Catalonia Terrassa Museums in Catalonia Textile museums in Catalonia Technology museums in Spain European Route of Industrial Heritage Anchor Points