"Museu Blau" at the Forum Barcelona
Ethereal, muted sounds mingle with animal noises, a deep, dark blue envelops silhouettes, and diffuse streaks of light crisscross the space: Visually shielded from the outside world, in an atmosphere reminiscent of the ocean floor, the Natural History Museum in Barcelona presents the history of our blue planet, evoking the origins of life. Built in 2004 as part of the Universal Forum of Cultures by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the conference and exhibition building has found a new purpose: The museum now displays a portion of its extensive collection at four locations within the city. Although the architects designed the building as a flexibly usable unit, it seems tailor-made for the exhibits. The flat, triangular volume, raised off the ground at the end of Avenida Diagonal on the coast, is structurally based on an intersection of the city's square grid and the diagonal. Polygonal incisions bring light into and beneath the building, where the glass entrance area is also located. Suspended above the wide foyer staircase, a whale skeleton greets visitors. On a lens-shaped, curved disc, the evolution of the Earth is depicted again and again in moving images. As if hypnotized, children—the largest group of visitors—pause before the blue surface. The architects added nine freestanding "cells" to the museum's interior, each designed to explain specific aspects in more detail. These also zone the space and create a wayfinding system. The simplified presentation of Earth's history continues with films and exhibits under glass domes. The highlight is a series of linearly arranged display cases, densely packed with taxidermied animals, culminating in an aesthetically impressive collection of rocks and minerals. Outside, dazzling light brings visitors back to the real world—with a view of the shimmering blue expanse of the sea.
