Located at the Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, Barcelona’s new Design Museum glorifies Catalan and, more in general, Spanish decorative and applied arts. The museum, which opened in December, displays a marvel of handicraft from past centuries, and product, fashion and graphic design of more recent times.
The Museu del Disseny de Barcelona brings together the collections of four of the city’s museums: the Museu de les Arts Decoratives (devoted to the decorative arts), the Museu de Ceràmica (ceramics), the Museu Tèxtil i d’Indumentària (textiles and clothing) and the Gabinet de les Arts Gràfiques (graphic arts).
The building by Barcelona architecture firm MBM arquitectes at first impresses by its size. The public atrium of the building, called Design Hub, is enormous. The four exhibition floors that house the actual Design Museum are large too, measuring 550 square meters. But here clever layout of the exhibitions makes the visitor feel better while not loosing the sense of space.
Product design
The first floor displays 240 objects of mostly Spanish product design grouped around themes like ‘functional’, ‘evocative’, ‘eco’, ‘recognised’, ‘artisanal’, ‘innovators’ and ‘personalisations’. Objects range from the obvious chairs, lamps and other furniture to a tree pit by Salavador Fábregas that adapts to the growth of the tree, and a wringer bucket Ecofrego by Carlos Rivadulla and Josep Añols that separates the wastewater. The exhibition is a nice display of product design with some nice surprises.
Even better surprises are found on the next floors, where decorative arts and fashion can be found. The second floor houses incredible pieces of Catalan artisanry from the 3rd to the 20th Century in ceramics, textiles, furniture, glassware, miniatures, clocks, wallpaper and more. The third floor presents a beautiful display of the development of fashion from 1550 to the present.
A touch of surrealism
Finally the top floor gives an overview of the evolution of Spanish graphic design between 1940 and 1980 from a side occupation for artists to a profession. In the chronologically displayed work by artists and designers like Josep Morell, Manolo Prieto, Josep Pla Narbona, Yves Zimmermann, Toni Miserachs, America Sánchez and
Peret influences can be seen from Swiss, Anglo-Saxon, French and even Dutch design traditions. But the posters and book covers do display a distinctive Spanish spirit as well, that has a touch of surrealism.
Ah well, all together the Museu del Disseny offers a great excuse for a weekend in Barcelona.
Museu del Disseny de Barcelona
Pl. de les Glòries Catalanes, 37-38
08018 Barcelona
www.museudeldisseny.cat