The exhibition "Gaudí, fire and ashes" was a challenge due to the quantity, the typology and the size of the different objects to be presented. As a set designer I had to organize the space and prepare the original room to house an installation that would give rhythm and sense to the route proposed by Juan José Lahuerta's script, eliminating two large warehouses that condemned the circulation inside the room and limited the space.
The set of original furniture that recreated an entrance of one of the apartments of the Casa Milà –the most imposing and voluminous piece of the entire collection– was the one that gave me the pattern to develop the scenographic idea.
Drawing the hall of "La Pedrera" on the plan of the room exhibitions was the secret. Above the room had landed a form, a modulation decided by Gaudí. This germinal element became the key to expand the design throughout the space.
The different sections communicated with each other, not only from the natural path between one area and another but also by the play of visual axes that appeared declining the Gaudinian scheme. This structure made it possible to glimpse new environments, to remind the public of the areas visited and to create new expectations. The layout of the space allowed for surprising relationships between the objects on display that, until now, had never been found together in the same place.
The next step in the design work consisted of placing the most voluminous pieces in strategic places so that the discovery, to the visitor's eye, would be impressive and spectacular. The creation of these struts gave the exhibition a dramatic rhythm.
The last area was conceived with the intention of recreating the space of Antoni Gaudí's workshop in the Sagrada Família and, inspired by historical photographs, to envelop the visitor with a large collection of objects and publications from the Basilica Museum and other institutions. The models, sculptures and documents offered the viewer a snapshot of the moment and the time of the beginnings of the construction of the temple with Antoni Gaudí as the protagonist.
Institutional sponsor: National Art Museum of Catalonia
Location: Barcelona (Spain)
With the collaboration of Jose Castelló and Anna Soteras
@ Photography: Pepo Segura
