The School of Architecture in the Historic Building: the cradle of Catalan Modernism
The School of Architecture in the Historic Building: the cradle of Catalan Modernism
Permanent exhibition that recovers the memory of the old School of Architecture, located on the second floor of the Historic Building. Coinciding with Barcelona's status as a world reference for architecture and the centenary of Antoni Gaudí's death, the exhibition pays tribute to the UB's contribution to the training of architects.
Organized by: Office of the Vice-Rector for Culture, Memory and Heritage
In 2026, the University of Barcelona celebrates its 575th anniversary, an anniversary that coincides with two events of great significance for the city and for the world of architecture: the capital of Barcelona as a world reference for architecture and the centenary of the death of Antoni Gaudí, one of his most emblematic students. In this exceptional context, the University is promoting a commemorative exhibition dedicated to the former School of Architecture, which for decades occupied the second floor of the Historic Building, with the aim of paying tribute to its own contribution to the training of architects and the development of the discipline.
The exhibition proposes a journey that invites us to recover the memory of a fundamental academic space for the history of Catalan architecture. Through a selection of historical photographs and texts, strategically distributed throughout the same corridors and classrooms that hosted architectural teaching between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a visual dialogue between past and present is generated. These images, which document daily life, study spaces and teaching practice of the time, allow visitors to relive the original atmosphere of the School and discover the transformation of the spaces over time.
The current spaces —now intended for other university uses— thus become the settings for an exercise in collective memory that highlights the educational, cultural and architectural legacy of the University. Each point on the route incorporates explanatory panels that contextualize the photographs and the history of the School.
With this proposal, the University of Barcelona wants not only to preserve and disseminate the memory of the former School of Architecture, but also to recognize the fundamental role it has played in the training of some of the most important figures important figures in Barcelona's architecture, such as Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Antoni Gaudí himself, who left an indelible mark on the university's academic legacy and on the city's physiognomy.
