Museu de les Arts Decoratives, Decorative arts museum in Barcelona, Spain
The Museu de les Arts Decoratives is a museum in Barcelona that brings together European decorative objects ranging from ceramics and textiles to furniture, glassware, and metalwork, covering the period from the Middle Ages to the industrial era. It is now part of Disseny Hub Barcelona, a design center in the Poblenou district that houses several collections in a single building.
The collection was founded in 1932 at Palau Reial de Pedralbes and was moved to Olot during the Spanish Civil War before returning to Barcelona. In 2014, it was brought together with other city design institutions into the newly opened Disseny Hub Barcelona.
The collections show everyday objects from across Spanish regions, including furniture, fabrics, and ceramics that were made for use in ordinary homes and wealthy households alike. Walking through the rooms, visitors can see how craftsmanship and taste shifted across different parts of the country over the centuries.
The collections are housed inside Disseny Hub Barcelona in Poblenou, where textile and graphic design exhibitions are also on show, so a single visit can cover several topics. Since the building holds multiple galleries, it is worth setting aside enough time to move through them without rushing.
The Palau Reial de Pedralbes, where the collection was first housed, has a fountain in its garden that is attributed to Antoni Gaudi. The same estate also contained a Caribbean-style villa and a Gothic chapel, which made it an unusually varied setting for a decorative arts museum.
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