While we go over to the museum, let me tell you about its origins. Following the death of Antoni Gaudi, a number of his followers pointed out the need to create a place where his work could be conserved and disseminated.

From the outset, they had the idea of adapting the workroom, located on the building site itself and where all the manual craftwork took place, from the scale models of the church to the carvings.

However, the refurbishment and classification work did not take place in soon enough, and when the church was attacked during the Civil War, the workroom and most of the scale models, plans and drawings housed in it were destroyed.

It was a terrible loss of materials that would have enabled Gaudi’s work to be more fully understood. Nevertheless, the disaster did have one positive outcome: the ultimate creation of a space where all the damaged or partially destroyed material that was necessary to continue the work could be reconstructed and displayed.

The museum opened for the first time in 1961, in the basement underneath the Facade of the Passion. It was recently moved to its current location, which is a much larger and more suitable space. In it, you will be able to see drawings, period photographs, ceremonial furniture and a number of scale models that are copies of the originals. You will also be able to see the model workshop, where Gaudi’s original models are being restored.

I hope the museum will help you to understand the significance and complexity of Gaudi’s work. When you come out, press the next audio track and we will continue our tour, which is about to come to an end.



(c) (R) 2013, MUSMon com S.L.
Text (a) Diego Laforga Marcos (2013)

Picture:
Source: Own work
Author: Carlos Marcos (2013)