The Design Museum of Barcelona (ca|Museu del Disseny de Barcelona) is a center of Barcelona's Institute of Culture. It aims to promote a better understanding and effective use of the design world, functioning as both a museum and a laboratory. The museum focuses on four design disciplines: space design, product design, information design, and fashion.
The museum is the result of the merger of several previously existing museums, including the Museu de les Arts Decoratives, the Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària, and the Gabinet de les Arts Gràfiques collection. The opening of the new headquarters, located on Plaça de les Glòries next to Torre Agbar, took place gradually throughout 2014.[2]
Barcelona is a city historically linked to design, with longstanding institutions such as the Foment de les Arts Decoratives. For this reason, the city of Barcelona proposed, earlier in the 2000s, the creation of a single center—an integrated space that would help the public understand design in a broader context.[3]
It was decided to build a unified space in Barcelona to house all collections and endowments related to the world of design. Oriol Bohigas was commissioned to design a building in Plaça de les Glòries for this purpose.
Initially, it was to be named the Barcelona Design Museum. From 2008 to 2013, it was called Design Hub Barcelona, before being renamed again as the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona (Design Museum of Barcelona).[4] [5]
The Barcelona Design Museum is located in the DHUB building in Plaça de les Glòries. It was designed by the MBM architecture firm, formed by Oriol Martorell, Oriol Bohigas, and David Mackay.[6] [7] The construction of the building began in July 2009, when the Minister of Culture, Joan Manuel Tresserras, and the Mayor, Jordi Hereu, laid the first stone.[8] Construction was completed in 2013, and the Design Museum of Barcelona opened its doors in 2014.
The building consists of two parts: one underground, taking advantage of the level change caused by the urbanization of Plaça de les Glòries, and another emerging above ground. The above-ground portion is a parallelepiped with a bias cut, matching the width of Avila Street. This design symbolizes the relationship between the Eixample streets and Plaça de les Glòries, while preserving the view of the large central park.
The underground section serves as a public space connected to the future development of the Plaça de les Glòries park. One of its key features is the "green carpet," made with natural or artificial elements to ensure sustainability and easy maintenance. The space also includes a bar and restaurant.
The building includes two floors and a mezzanine, housing key activities such as the main exhibition hall, storage areas, research and teaching spaces, and well-attended services. Despite being located underground, natural lighting and a connection to the exterior are achieved through a sunken courtyard created by the difference in levels. This area is enhanced by a reflective water feature, resembling a large forecourt.
Additional lighting is provided by six skylights that emerge into the public space above. These skylights also serve as showcases, highlighting the museum's contents and activities.
The building's design maximizes public space by using the minimum possible floor area. A cantilever extends into the square, allowing the planned building area without reducing space for public use. The two connected structures of the center are accessed through a single hall with dual entrances: one at the +7 m level from Avila Street and the other at the +14.5 m level from the square.
This hall functions as a public or semi-public space, acting as a link between Plaça de les Glòries, Poblenou, the metro, and the transportation hub. From this square, a system of stairs, escalators, and elevators provides access to all basement services, upper floors, and the conference room.
The building's exterior features only two materials: metal plates (zinc or aluminum) and glass. Together, these materials create an industrial appearance with metallic reflections.
The entire project is designed to prioritize environmental quality, sustainability, and energy efficiency. Key aspects of the design include:
These features combine to make the building environmentally responsible and energy-efficient, meeting modern sustainability standards.[9]
The Barcelona Design Museum was created through the merger of several previously existing local museums:
See main article: Museu de les Arts Decoratives. The Museu de les Arts Decoratives, established in 1932, focused on European decorative arts from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution. In 1995, the museum expanded to include industrial design, becoming the first museum in Spain to focus on this area.
Its collection included a variety of objects, such as salvers, carriages, furniture, wallpaper, clocks, tapestries, and glasswork.[10] [11]
See main article: Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària. The Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària houses a significant collection of garments, fabrics, and jewelry with notable artistic and historical value. Its collection of clothing provides a journey through the history of textiles, spanning from the 16th century to the present day.
The museum's holdings include Coptic, Hispano-Arab, Gothic, and Renaissance fabrics, along with sections dedicated to embroidery, lacework, and prints. Additionally, the jewelry collection is noteworthy, featuring approximately 500 pieces made and produced in Spain.[12] [13] [14]
See main article: Gabinet de les Arts Gràfiques. The Gabinet de les Arts Gràfiques, or Cabinet of Graphic Arts, was a museum focused on visual communication design. Its collections included notable examples of typography, such as punches, matrices, and tracing plates. The museum also showcased prints featuring binding, packaging, labels, and posters.
Prominent printers such as Elzeviriana, Bobes, Seix Barral, Tobella, Naips Comas (makers of playing cards), Tallers Roca (industrial bookbinders), and the Neufville type foundry have contributed to the museum's growing collection. Additionally, certain artists and their families have donated graphic works and engraving molds, including contributions from Miquel Plana and the families of Josep Obiols and Miquel Llovet.
The collection is displayed during exhibitions and in study galleries curated by Disseny Hub Barcelona.[15] The concept behind the Study Galleries is to create a space that blends elements of a temporary exhibition, a documentation center, and a museum repository while maintaining its own unique identity. Objects are organized by typology and presented in a way that encourages visitors to study, contemplate, and reflect on the museum's collections.
See main article: Casa Bloc. Room 1/11 of the Casa Bloc (1932–1939), also known as Bloc House in Catalan, is an apartment-museum managed by the Design Museum of Barcelona. The space preserves the original structure and design of this historic architectural complex, which served as a model for worker housing during the Second Spanish Republic.
The museum apartment pays tribute to the innovative work of Josep Lluís Sert, Josep Torres Clavé, and Joan Baptista Subirana, highlighting the groundbreaking approach they introduced in the 1930s. Open to the public since March 2012, the Casa Bloc can be visited through guided tours available by reservation.
Room 1/11 is a 60-square-meter duplex located in Block 2, Level 1, Gate 11. Its interior layout is simple, with a clear distinction between day and night areas.[16]
The museum also hosts a library dedicated to key areas of design: product design, fashion, information design, and interior design. The library's initial collection contains over 9,000 documents, ranging from the 16th century to the present day, including 1,600 items published before 1950. This collection originated from the libraries of the Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària de Barcelona, the Museu d'Arts Decoratives de Barcelona, the Gabinet de les Arts Gràfiques de Barcelona, and the BCD (Barcelona Centre de Disseny). Over the years, these collections have received numerous donations from professionals, individuals, institutions, and businesses.
Particularly noteworthy are the bibliographic reserves of the Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària, which are distinguished by their uniqueness and excellent state of preservation. These reserves include two large donations: the bequest of the Comtesa de Vilardaga and a donation by Sr. Manuel Rocamora. Most of the bibliographic materials are housed in the reading room and are accessible to the public. The library uses its own classification system, known as IMAG.
The most valuable and oldest documents, as well as those that are consulted the least, are stored in a deposit within the DHUB building. The Documentation Center uses RFID technology (Radio Frequency Identification) to track the number of times each document is accessed. This information ensures that the most frequently requested documents are always available in the reading room for easy access.
The historical reserves of magazines and journals are still being cataloged. The center maintains over 100 subscriptions to specialist magazines and journals.
The archives of the Documentation Center currently include:
The center offers its users access to some of the best specialized databases available. Requests and consultations should be made at the center's facilities.