# Design Museum of Barcelona

The Design Museum of Barcelona (Catalan: 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.

## History

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.
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).

## Building

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. 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. 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 14.5 metres (48 ft) 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.

### Ground floor

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.

### First floor

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.

### Sustainability

The entire project is designed to prioritize environmental quality, sustainability, and energy efficiency. Key aspects of the design include:
* Passive sustainability: The project incorporates sustainable materials and structural elements such as massive facades, high-performance windows, pre-engineered systems, shading devices, and insulation. These measures align with the Distinctive Guarantee of Environmental Quality from the Generalitat and the EU Ecolabel.
* Sanitation: A separate network is installed to enable rainwater reuse.
* Plumbing: Water consumption is minimized through flow regulation and control systems. Solar collectors are used to produce at least 70% of the hot water requirements.
* Air conditioning: High-performance water chillers with air condensation, low-noise and acoustically protected systems, heat recovery chiller plants, natural gas boilers, free cooling when outdoor conditions are favorable, and latent heat recovery from air extraction are all incorporated.
* Electricity: The building uses low-power lighting systems, presence detectors, timed testers, and photovoltaic panels for direct solar power utilization.
* Centralized management: All facilities are centrally managed to ensure optimal efficiency.
These features combine to make the building environmentally responsible and energy-efficient, meeting modern sustainability standards.

## Museums

The Barcelona Design Museum was created through the merger of several previously existing local museums:

### 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.

### 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.

### 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. 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.

### The Casa Bloc Apartment Museum

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.

## Documentation Center

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.

### Archives

The archives of the Documentation Center currently include:
* ADI FAD Archive: This collection comprises the reserves of the Associació de Dissenyadors Industrials del Foment de les Arts Decoratives (1957–2007). It contains documentation generated by the association in its daily activities, both work-related and administrative. The archive includes materials related to administration (foundational acts, meetings, members, reports, participation in international entities), information management (archives, computer systems), external relations (public events, relationships with other private and public institutions), human resources management, financial resources management, heritage management (movable and real estate items), legal matters, promotion of industrial design (exhibitions, conferences, publications), and services for members (distribution lists, job exchanges, bulletins).
* Rigalt i Granell Archive: This archive consists of documents collected from the stained-glass workshop Rigalt, Granell & Cia, which operated from 1890 to 1984. Until now, this documentation was preserved by the Granell family. The archive provides insight into the artistic and technical aspects of the workshop, which played a central role in the modernist period. Their work can be found in landmarks such as the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, and Casa Lleó Morera. The workshop collaborated with renowned architects, including Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Lluís Moncunill, Josep Puig i Cadafalch, and Geroni Granell. The archive contains accounting documents, drawings, sketches, inventories, publicity catalogs, and photographs. The most significant portion consists of 500 sketches of stained-glass and acid-etched glass designs, allowing us to trace artistic trends in stained glass over the past century. These include works from the pre-modernist, modernist, noucentista, art deco, and abstract periods of the 1980s. The collection also includes 3,000 pieces, such as prints (from various countries), themed plates, brochures, business directories (including Les Vitraux de Paris c.1900, Aus der Deutschen Glasmalerei de Berlin 1901 and Religiöse Malerein für Kirchedekoration de Viena 1907), company photographs, and folders with original drawings and sketches.
* Montaner y Simón editors collection.

### Databases

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.
* Design and Applied Arts Index (DAAI) allows users to consult summaries of articles published in design publications dating back to 1973. It covers a wide range of disciplines, including ceramics, glass, furniture, jewelry, graphic design, fashion design, textile design, interior design, architecture, web design, and more. The database adds approximately 1,200 new records every month.
* Berg Fashion Library is an online resource providing integrated access to both visual and textual content on clothing and fashion throughout history. It includes the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, a collection of electronic books, dictionaries, and other reference resources, along with an extensive image bank.