The Masriera Workshop is one of the most unknown jewels of the Eixample by the citizens of Barcelona. The work of architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas, it was built in 1882 as a workshop for painters and sculptors, and is considered a neoclassical construction.
The idea was to build a "temple of art", so the architect resorted to recreating a classical hexastyle and prostyle temple, with columns and pilasters with fluted shafts topped with Corinthian capitals. In the 1920s, a major renovation transformed the space into a small theater, called "Studium" where the company "Els Belluguets" performed. All this activity was suspended by the Civil War and was resumed in 1939 with a more modest intensity. The "Studium" hall became the headquarters of the theater society Club Helena, which maintained theater and cinema programming there. In the 1950s the building was sold to the Catholic entity Social Center for Cultural and Religious Activities, and a community of nuns from the Company of the Sacred Heart settled there until 2009, when they transferred the property to the Pere Relats Private Foundation.
Municipally owned since July 2020
The building was acquired by the Barcelona City Council last July with the aim of allocating it to community facilities for the Dreta de l'Eixample neighborhood. The real estate transaction consisted of an exchange, since, in return, the council transferred a municipal property on Llacuna street to the Pere Relats Foundation.
A comprehensive rehabilitation of the property is planned for 2022, but before that, neighbors will be consulted to define its specific future uses. While the works do not begin and this participatory process is carried out, the City Council has decided to open the space once a month to citizens so that they can get to know it from the inside, guided by specialists.
This idea arose from the fact that Taller Masriera was one of the most successful spaces in the last edition of the 48h OpenHouseBCN festival, held last October. More than 300 people visited the building during the day and queues of up to four hours of waiting were formed.
Visits will take place on the first or second Saturday of each month, starting this January 9. Three shifts will be scheduled, with 30 to 45 minutes of explanation, at 10:30h, 11:30h and 12:30h and with groups of a maximum of 15 people. The organization, led by architects Sergio Alonso and Ariadna Gutiérrez, has already foreseen that this capacity can be reviewed at all times depending on the health situation and established protocols and according to the demand for visits.
The tour of the venue will begin in the previous courtyard, on the main access stairs to Bailén Street or under the Neoclassical portico. It will continue through the lobby and the theater's stalls. Next, the billiard and work room will be visited, and then the chapel on the ground floor. Afterwards, the stairs will be climbed to access the first floor where the rooms and the chapel will be visited. The last section of the visit will pass through the back patio and the amphitheater.
Reservations must be made through the Eventbrite platform, which will guarantee capacity control and management of attendee lists. Visit slots until June have already sold out.