The new entrance facade of the Baroque Museum of Catalonia was designed by David Closes and Núñez. It reinforces the Jesuit complex’s connections to its past and to Barcelona while reinterpreting the building’s meaning and its relationship with the city. David Closes Arquitecte, who conducted architectural interventions in the Convent of Sant Francesc in Santpedor from 2003 to 2011, transformed the structure into an auditorium.
The project took place in a convent complex built in the 18th century, of which only the church remains standing. Five years later, the architects were tasked with a project in the Old Saint Ignatius Complex in Manresa, this time in a former convent site whose only demolished structure was a Baroque church.
Design
Although the task this time seems to be the opposite of the previous one, both architectural interventions took place on partially lost building complexes; in this case, it is the old church that has been lost. The design of the new entrances to the old Jesuit complex was created within the scope of a large-scale renovation project for the entire complex.
The planned interventions aim to house the Catalan Baroque Museum and the Manresa City History Museum. The project proposes a series of new volumes that include entrances to both the hall and its associated areas, as well as the museum’s exhibition floors. These new volumes, placed in front of the old partition wall of the church, are positioned to match the new facade of the building, thus making visible the important traces left by the old church’s partition wall.
Environment
The intervention at the new entrances of the building claims to be more than a solution for the western facade of the former Jesuit complex. It proposes a new way of understanding both the building and the urban environment.
The new entrances to the museum create a path that provides views to the fundamental elements of the old complex, to the adjacent urban areas such as Sant Ignasi Square and the topography of an old stream, to important elements of the landscape heritage such as the Gothic basilica of La Seu, the defensive tower of Santa Caterina, or Montserrat Mountain. Designed through new access points, the path ends at its highest point with a tribune overlooking the urban landscape. The project aims to re-establish ties with the past of the Jesuit complex and the city, thus re-introducing both the intervention area and the building itself.
Project Info
Architectural Design: David Closes, Núñez
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Completion Date: 2023
Total Construction Area: 2660 sqm
Photos: José Hevia, Adrià Goula
