Barcelona’s Disseny Hub (DHub) is hosting an exhibition on how the Catalan ideas of seny and rauxa have shaped architecture across Catalonia over the past 150 years. The show, Seny i rauxa. Noticia de l’arquitectura catalana, runs until 6 September and forms part of Barcelona’s year as World Capital of Architecture.
Curated by architects Carme Ribas, Victòria Garriga and Joan Roig, the exhibition revisits a contrast first set out by Jaume Vicens Vives in his 1954 book Notícia de Catalunya. The curators apply the idea to architecture, using it to frame a wider reading of design, planning and domestic life.
Rather than following a strict timeline, the display is organised by scale, from room to house, then to apartment blocks, the old city, the new city and the wider territory. It brings together furniture, plans, models, photographs, unique pieces and artworks, with more than 500 items in total. For readers following our Catalonia coverage, see our news tag for more local reporting.
The exhibition space uses a strong red colour that Joan Roig described as “infernal or theatrical” but elegant. Among the works on display are a 1926 photograph of Antoni Gaudí’s bed in his studio, Casa Correa in Cadaqués, Josep Antoni Coderch’s plan for Casa Ugalde in Caldes d’Estrac, and H Arquitectes’ Casa 219. The curators say the pairings are meant to prompt comparison, not to impose a single reading.
The show also includes historic plans for Barcelona’s expansion, including Antoni Rovira i Trias’s winning 1859 city council proposal and Ildefons Cerdà’s 1860 plan, which was later imposed by the Spanish government. Other pieces range from Ramon Casas’s Interior and works by Pere Torné Esquius to more recent examples such as Miquel Barceló’s Tótem Dòric-azteca and Ivan Forcadell’s ceramic oil storage jar.
Alongside completed buildings, the exhibition includes unbuilt projects such as Ricardo Bofill’s Ciudad en el Espacio and Gaudí’s Hotel Atracción for New York. It also references well-known works across Catalonia, including Casa Planells in Barcelona, La Balma i La Borda, Escola Thau, Sala Beckett, Casa Horitzó in La Vall de Vianya, Palau de Vidre in Lleida and La Confiança shop in Mataró. Visitors can also find a book with texts that act as a guide to the exhibition.
