Over the next few months, Barcelona City Council will be carrying out works aimed at improving the facilities in the Park Güell. Specifically, the work will consist of repairs to the surrounding wall and railings, installation of new lighting, and increased safety measures, with new handrails and barriers. Picnic areas and children´s playgrounds will also be provided.

For the first time, Barcelona will join cities around the world as they showcase their best architecture during a 48-hour open house at emblematic buildings on 16-17 October 2010.

In this first edition of 48h OpenHouseBCN, nearly 150 buildings of various types and styles will offer free entry to the public. Twenty-eight Modernista buildings are among those participating in Barcelona: together they provide a look at one of the styles that best define good design in the Catalan capital´s architecture.

Among the buildings that will be open on these dates are the Casa Casas-Carbó designed by Antoni Rovira i Rabassa, the Casa Amatller by Puig i Cadafalch, the Escola de les Teresianes by Antoni Gaudí, and the reservoir built by Josep Fontseré to supply the waterfall in the Parc de la Ciutadella.

During 48h OpenHouseBCN, the public can join guided tours led by architects. In some cases it will be possible to meet and talk to a building's owners.

Download programme

www.48hopenhousebarcelona.org

The treasure hunt at the Museu del Modernisme Català unfolds as a nineteenth-century version of geocaching, the GPS-guided treasure-hunting game. The moment we cross the threshold and enter the museum, all our twenty-first-century technology is of no use. Participants will rely on tools available two centuries ago - a compass, for example - or better yet, the clues we'll slip into your hands at the information desk.
The treasure hunt is a free activity that helps visitors discover the details and anecdotes that lie behind the works of art and might be missed. The path follows the recommended route through the museum to ensure a pleasant and rewarding visit. If you're still dependent on new technology, the point of origin is N 41° 23.325 E 2° 9.798 - but your GPS won't help you beyond that point in the hunt!

From 12 August 2010

www.mmcat.cat/premsa

The Design Hub Barcelona (DHUB) is presenting "Wallpaper", a "study gallery" of items from the DHUB´s Decorative Arts and Graphic Arts Museums. Some 100 fine pieces have been chosen from the collections, which comprise numerous fine examples of local Catalan and international wallpaper spanning the period from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. A large portion of the papers are in the Art Nouveau style, noteworthy for vivid colours and dynamic designs. The sinuous curves so characteristic of this early twentieth-century style, along with ornamental flower and plant motifs, are well represented.
A study gallery is a public space for viewing, studying and reflecting on works held by the DHUB´s own museums. Objects displayed are organised by type and priority is given to providing supporting documentation to help the viewer become well-acquainted with the subject matter. In this sense, a study gallery distinguishes itself from a museum´s reserves, library or exhibition halls.
"Wallpaper" is divided into three parts. The first deals with types, including paper for standard wall surfaces, for pelmets or wainscoting, for ornamental borders, for pediments or panels above doors and windows and below ceilings, and for friezes and ceilings. The second part covers styles, from the Neoclassical period to revivals of 1960s and 1970s styles. The third looks at wallpaper today, and the interesting contributions of technological advances that have made an impact on design, production and aesthetics.
This initiative, curated by wallpaper specialist Maria Teresa Canals along with DHUB collections technician Rossend Casanova, will open on 1 July and continue through 31 October 2010 at the DHUB head office at 12 Carrer Montcada in Barcelona.

Rossend Casanova
Collections Technician, Design Hub Barcelona

www.dhub-bcn.cat

Barcelona's first museum devoted exclusively to Modernisme opened on 19 March 2010. Containing works by leading Catalan artists, it is housed in a Modernista building at Carrer Balmes 48, designed by architect Enric Sagnier. The museum is the result of a private initiative by art collectors and gallery owners Fernando Pinós and Maria Guirao, who have assembled in an area of 1,000 square metres a total of 350 works in the fields of painting, sculpture and the decorative arts. The 42 artists represented include Gaudí, Busquets, Llimona, Arnau, Casas, Renart, Rusiñol, Gargallo and Anglada Camarassa.

www.mmcat.ca

http://www.mmcat.cat