CaixaForum Barcelona

CaixaForum Barcelona is an art gallery in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is sponsored by Barcelona bank "la Caixa", and opened in 2002 in a former factory. CaixaForum is located in the Montjuïc area, on Avinguda de Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia.[2] The museum houses art exhibits.[3]

CaixaForum Barcelona
Entrance to the museum designed by Arata Isozaki
Location within Barcelona
EstablishedFebruary 2002
LocationAv. de Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, 6-8 08038 Barcelona
TypeArt museum
Visitors782,529 (2011)[1]
Public transit accessEspanya, Barcelona
Website"la Caixa" - Obra Social

The building

The building was originally commissioned as a textile factory by Casimir Casaramona i Puigcercós, and built by the famous Catalan architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch.[2] Called the "Casaramona factory", it was completed in 1911, and the same year won the City Council's award for best industrial building.[2] It closed in 1918, but reopened as a warehouse in 1929. In 1940 the building was used by the Spanish National Police Force, and it was used as such until "la Caixa" bought it in 1963.[2] It was opened as a museum in February 2002.[3] The building was restored prior to its opening,[4] and a new entrance was built, designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, in a process that included firing 100,000 bricks to match the original ones.[2] The museum, which opened in spring 2002, 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 mural, then rise again to the exhibition spaces on the ground floor, within the crenelated brickwork.[5]

  • A model of the building
  • Interior courtyard, showing distinctive window shapes and brickwork

See also

References
  1. "El CaixaForum rep 782.529 visitants". Diari de Girona (in Catalan). Barcelona. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  2. "The Building". CaixaForum Barcelona. "la Caixa". Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  3. "Caixaforum: Pleasant, interesting and free of charge!". Barcelona tour guides. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  4. Flanagan, Julie (2001). Museus i Centres de Patrimoni Cultural a Catalunya (in Catalan) (1st ed.). Barcelona: Departament de Cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya. p. 19. ISBN 84-393-5437-1.
  5. Emma Daly (September 15, 2002), Glorious Recycling: Barcelona; Art in an old mill and Gaudí by bus The New York Times.
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