Act of presentation of the documentary fund Lluís Domènech i Montaner. This fund, made up of 369 books and 67 document folders, has been lent by the Lluís Domènech i Montaner Foundation. It is planned to install it in its own space in the consultation room of the Historical Archive, and to publish its bibliographic and documentary catalogs on the web.
The Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau is the only example of a modernist building for which all the documentation related to the construction is preserved, even that which was not intended to be preserved. In order to give it visibility, a permanent display of high-quality copies of plans produced by Domènech i Montaner will be installed. Various typologies will be exhibited (sketches, decorative details, specifications, structural details, elevations and general sections, etc.) distributed throughout all the visitable spaces of the Modernista Precinct, all the while confronting them with the built elements to which they refer.
This exhibition will give visitors the opportunity to appreciate the mosaics that decorate the facades of the Administration Pavilion, some of which are out of reach or go unnoticed. All the mosaic panels on the facades of the Administration will be reproduced in their entirety, which will include details and explanations that will affect several aspects: first, the historical contextualization of the scenes and the characters represented; secondly, the creative context in which Domènech chooses these motifs and not others, and the artists who execute them; thirdly, the mosaic as a decorative technique, accompanied by images of life-size details.
In this exhibition, plans and details of some of the more than 240 hospitals around the world that Domènech i Montaner studied before designing the Santa Creu and Sant Pau hospitals, at the beginning of the 20th century, will be reproduced.
In addition to tracing the evolution of hospital architecture up to the moment, as well as the hospitals around the world that he cites as reference, it can be seen that Domènech does not limit himself to adopting a “typical” hospital typology from among the already consolidated at the time, but only takes them as a starting point to arrive at the best possible design while adapting the latest innovations to configure a coherent set of great beauty that does not detract from its functionality.
It will consist of a Recital at the LIFE Victoria Festival, organized with the collaboration of the Victoria de los Ángeles Foundation at the former Domènech i Montaner Hospital, the festival’s usual venue.
Frederic Mompou’s compositions will be played again in the same space where he was already honored in 1982. As a young man, the composer saw the growth of the Hospital de Sant Pau building from Parc del Guinardó, a place that served as his inspiration Mompou’s “Silent Music” establishes a link with modernity, in a similar way to how Domènech i Montaner does without forgetting the more orthodox architecture.
Organized with the Lluís Domènech i Montaner Foundation
‘Dialogues with Lluís Domènech’
Series of three “à deux” conversations with Lluís Domènech Girbau addressed to the general public:
How Barcelona was made: Domènech and Avinguda Gaudí
Conversation with Lluís Domènech Amadó (architect specialized in urban planning and director of architecture at the Sagrera station).
The charcoal portraits of Ramón Casas: Domènech and the modernists
Conversation with Cristina Mendoza (director of the Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona -1982- and specialist in the modernist painter Ramón Casas).
Domènech’s documentary legacy at the COAC, the Hospital and the Palace
Conversation with Andreu Carrascal (head of the Historical Archive of the College of Architects), Miquel Terreu (archivist of the Sant Pau Hospital) and Marta Grassot (responsible for the Documentation Center of the Catalan Orfeó).
‘Domènech, Catalonia, Europe’
Series of five conferences with specialized speakers of international level:
Domènech and the origins of Catalonia
Josep M. Salrach (professor of Medieval History, UPF).
Domènech, between Classicism and Baroque
Maria Garganté (art historian, UAB) and
Raül Garrigasait (philologist and editor, Bernat Metge Foundation).
Domènech, from positivism to pessimism
Mita Casacuberta (historian and philologist, UdG).
Domènech, the politician
Borja de Riquer (historian, president of the Academy of Good Letters).
Domènech, eclectic and avant-garde
Hans Ibelings (architectural historian, University of Toronto).