CAN FRAMI S MUSEUM

RAFAELA AGAPITO
2 1 1 4 4 0 7
I NTRODUCTI ON
I DENTI TY, TRADI TI ON AND PHENOMENOLOGY
When I visited Poblenou - old epicentre of Catalan and Iberian industry I imme-
diately recognized the industrial zone, from the grid of the streets to the old brick
chimneys rising from time to time. The people seemed more real than the other
parts of Barcelona, nothing was rehearsed. I saw the concrete and the shouts of
revolution in the walls and I sensed that it was a place yet to be explored by tourists
like me. I dont mean in terms of stillness, it was not a city stuck in time. However,
it was a simple one, the old and the new and the people. It wasnt trying to be
anything, it just was. Some would call the architecture mediocre or mundane, but I
found solace in it. One of the messages in the walls referred to the urban program
designed by the City Council to transform Poblenou in a new technological and
innovation district- 22@. The reason the community was resisting was because
many historical factories and houses were been destroyed to give way to light ser-
vices industries. People were defending their homes, history and memory.
The connection of individuals and place is important, the Catalan people is known
for its distinct identity. According to Paul Brislin the sense of identity is vital to survival,
and the making of space has an inseparable and complex place in the making
and sustaining human identity.
1
When identity is something so strong and recog-
nizable it can alienate this group of individuals that claim they are different from the
others, it could become an argument for separatist movements. The Catalan na-
tionalism is an example, they want to be recognized as a cultural unity, as a nation.
Some parts of Spain and France is hostile with the Catalan independentism. Thus,
the desire to set apart from others comes from a sense of belonging and the acts
of xenophobia as well, even though extremes. However, there is other type of alien-
ation - the one that comes from the issue of homogenisation. When we dont have
any sense of identity, we lose our connection to the place. There is no tradition,
there is no place that you come from. It is often heard comments on globalization
flattening the unique characteristics from a place to another. Although there is no
denying that is a natural movement consequence of the interplay between places
in the world, it still leaves a sense of loss. Brislin comments that the deep desire to
find a place where we feel at home is a natural human response. In the words of
Peter Zumthor: I like to travel the world, but its important for me that Im anchored
here. To come from a place, I think, is a very basic human thing.
2
That been said I should say that I am not reverencing nostalgia, I dont defend the
dead city of old buildings, motionless on time, thinking they are dying with dignity
when the death happened a long time ago and the only thing that remains is the
corpse. I believe in the creation of memories, new spaces with the essence of tradi-
tion. It is not regressive traditionalism, what is important is the sense that you belong
in that place, to reclaim and invent the identity is only natural.
1.Paul Brislin, Human, Experience and Place: Sustaining Identity, Architectural
Design, profile no 220 (2012).
2. Paul Brislin, Human, Experience and Place: Sustaining Identity, Architectural
Design, profile no 220 (2012).
In the following topic a museum located in the industrial zone of Barcelona (Poble-
nou) will be introduced. Can Framis is the case of study for an analysis in phenom-
enology architecture. I understand phenomenology as a study of essences; and
according to it, all problems amount to finding definition of essences of perception,
or the essence of consciousness, for example. such as stated by Marleau-Ponty, he
comprehends phenomenology as a return to the world that existed before knowl-
edge. Etymologically, the word means the activity of giving an account (logos)
of the way things appear (phenomenon). Thus, basically, phenomenology is the
study of phenomena. In an architecture point of view, phenomenology rejoic-
es in the experience, it is when you come to understand your existence through
all the senses. We are living in a place of concrete phenomena and intangible
phenomena, to be aware of the unique existence in space is essential in devel-
oping a consciousness of perception. According to Holl, we must open ourselves
to perception and try to access that inner life which reveals the luminous intensity of
the world. He also state that Architecture, more fully than other art forms, engages
the immediacy of our sensory perceptions. The passage of time; light, shadow and
transparency colour phenomena, texture, material and detail all participate in the
complete experience of architecture.
3
In other words, the experience of the body
is very important, since the body is the reference of every action that we use directly
on things, of every notion that we have on spatiality. The conception of space cant
be done without the consideration of the body in the space.
Image from Rafaela Agapito
3. Holl, S Pallasmaa, J & Prez-Gmez, A. Questions of perception: Phenomenolo-
gy of Architecture, A+U Publishing Co., San Francisco, 2008.
CAN FRAMI S
TI ME AND PERCEPTI ON
Can Framis is located in the old new village (Poble Nou means New Village in Cat-
alan), it is a museum that focus in the exposition of Catalan art, specifically painting.
The building is a redevelopment project of a late-18th century woollen-textile mill.
Originally it comprised 40 buildings, by 1990 there was only 3, and one of them was
destroyed due to the stage of deterioration. It was rebuilt for the museum together
with the refurbishment of the other 2 buildings. The project is from BAAS architecture
practice with the direction of Jordi Bardia, Can Framis won Spains 2009 national
award for cultural heritage. This museum is part of a private institution The Vila Ca-
sas Foundation that is dedicated to the promotion of Catalan Contemporary Art.
The day I visited Can Framis I wasnt sure the direction I was supposed to go. I saw
the Agbar Tower from the distance and remembered faintly of a photo of the mu-
seum with the tower in the background. I decided to go in the direction of the Jean
Nouvel building, and eventually I found the street they said was the one. I remember
staring at this quarter covered by trees. I didnt recalled the place being surrounded
by vegetation, in any case that was definitely the location. I walked forward, passing
through the trees and there it was, I recognized the white brick walls and silhouettes
of windows. I couldnt help but feel the disconnection of this quarter to the surround-
ing areas of the city. Jordi Bardia aimed for this intention, the separation/contrast to
the rapidness of the surrounding area, they provided a tranquil breathing space
away from the hubhub of speed and time. I will admit I was a bit disappointed
at first with this idea because some images led me to believe the building was
surrounded by sandy colours and terrain with the sparse presence of vegetation.
In any case, now remembering I liked the sensuous intimacy of the place. I like the
leisureliness, I could sit and stare, basically sense the atmosphere of mystery they
achieved to create. This place of reflection and calmness confirms what Kundera
identify as the connection of slowness and rapidness with remembering and forget-
ting: The degree of slowness is directionally proportional to the intensity of memory.
The degree of speed is directionally proportional to the intensity of forgetting. In
other words, when one stops and take time to reflex on their experience, not con-
stantly obsessing on the things they had to do, but realising of what is around them,
you create long-lasting memory. On the contrary the rapidness create short-lived
memories, or not memories at all, you sense and you forget. The degree of speed
only generates rush decisions and the non-awareness of the experience in a place.
Image from http://www.baas.
cat/en/equipamientos/mu-
seo-can-framis
Image from http://www.arch-
daily.com/40219/cam-fra-
mis-museum-jordi-badia/
fernando_guerra-museo_
can_framis-25/
Image from http://www.baas.
cat/en/equipamientos/mu-
seo-can-framis
The museum consists of three different buildings: two warehouses restored and a
new building designed to join them - creating a quadrilateral courtyard. The floor of
this area, which is the main entrance is paved with recovered stones from the old
factory. There is a fourth building in the block (north-western side) that generates with
the new building, a second courtyard where is placed the old factory chimney. This
fourth building, though, is not part of the museum. The new edifice, that crosses the
factories, is relativity modest. The new space didnt have the intention to outstand,
it was well-thought, harmonious. The old and the new complimented each other.
As once said by Peter Zumthor about a little red barn converted into dwelling: the
new parts of the house did not seem to be saying I am new, but rather I am part of
the new whole
3
I feel that this is absolutely true for Can Framis. Nonetheless, Should
a place that showcase art be an object of art itself? To answer this Id like to first ad-
dress the matter of space and what it means in terms of lived experience.
Heidegger distinguishes space in two different types: World-space and space of
action. The first is a space based on a fundamental space of actions, it is an ab-
straction from the spatial experience of our everyday life. Space of action has two
aspects: regions and the spatiality of Dasein. The region is the type of space in
which we do our usual activities, it is a functional space, such as the house, the
factory, the school and they have diverse regions, which organize and contextual-
ize our activities along with used tools. For example, in my room I have my table of
work and it is organized according to the spatiality of the way I work. My computer,
books, pencils and papers are located in a referential context of objects and my
activities. Heidegger believes that referential functionality is not only a subjective
characteristic added to scientific space, but an inherent feature of space itself.
Meaning that the descriptions of a space often refer to man and his environment.
The spatiality of Dasein have a feature of de-severance and another of direction-
ality. In the first feature, distance is not defined as a precisely measured interval.
The description of space are formed accordingly to our spatial intuition. For exam-
ple, if we have two ways of going from A to B, but one of the ways is more interest-
ing, we could be led to believe that the walk is shorter when it isnt. Every de-serving
aims to a direction, determined by a specific region. If I need a book, I will go to the
library, following the direction of the city centre. According to Heidegger, the words
here, there (...) are not abstract locations, but characters of an existence space
of Dasein. The image we perceived of place is often fragmented, in The Image of
The City, Lynch proves that the image that we have of a space is partially a result
of what is perceived and partially a result of memories of past experiences. In sum-
mary, a space is not just a shelter for people and things. Therefore the museum
did not had the intention, nor is it just a container for works of art. According to Le
Corbusier the purpose of construction is to make things hold together; of architec-
ture to move us. Architectural emotion exists when the work rings within us in tune
with a universe whose laws we obey, recognize and respect. Consequently, I can
recognize Can Framis as work of art, but is not only that and is also not a type of
architecture in which the building transcend its original function.
4.Zumthor, P. Thinking Architecture, 3rd ed., Birkauser , Basel.
Image from http://www.baas.
cat/en/equipamientos/mu-
seo-can-framis
Image from http://www.baas.
cat/en/equipamientos/mu-
seo-can-framis
Image from http://www.baas.
cat/en/equipamientos/mu-
seo-can-framis
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The beginning of the journey to the museum starts on the highest level (on the street)
and as we move towards the building we pass through semi-lit areas, which will
then light up to showpiece the exhibited pieces. The play of lights was very interest-
ing, one of the reasons was that each room had different features, sometimes they
were darker, with a different entrance of light. For example there was this particular
wall partition inside the gallery that preserved the stonework, and the light shined
through a curtain on the side, if was not for the majestic piece of art on the wall, the
room could be mistaken by the familiar appearance of a living room. In other areas
the windows were thick and angular, the spaces were usually big, flexible and not
excessively illuminated, it had a natural feeling. I recall the stairs being very distinct
from one another. The way the light shined through them, or perhaps was the differ-
ent materials used. One of them, had a light coming from the ceiling, creating an
interesting array of shadows in the dark concrete. Other interesting stair is the one
that connects the old factory from the left with the new building, it is visible from the
courtyard, but not because there is a transparent surface on the wall, but because
you can see the profile of the stair in the concrete block. The other ones played
around with the heights and visuals throughout the rooms.
The old warehouses dont have relevance for the industrial patrimony as buildings,
however they gain importance because of the contrast with their location based
on the former agricultural sketches prior to implementation of the Cerd plan at a
level of 1.5m below the current road. Ildefons Cerd was a catalan urban planner
that in the 19th century was responsible for the expansion of Barcelona in this rigid
organized grid it is today. His main objective at the time was to avoid privileged
zones for social classes and to achieve an optimum hygienic density. The garden
designed with the intention of isolation remarks the height of the museum, alien-
ating the context. All the atmosphere provided by the off-white of the brick walls
and the hiedra hugging the trees and pavements, the faint fresh and sweet smell,
its almost decadent, a secret hidden in a garden. When entering the museum the
scent is almost odourless, it is not a lifeless place though, I just remember the emp-
tiness. It was just me, the paintings and the silence. Silence that I was grateful for. As
Pallasmaa concludes in Silence, Time and Solitude: Experiencing a work of art is a
private dialogue between the work and the viewer that excludes other interaction.
Art is made by the alone for the alone, as Cyrille Connoly writes in The Unquiet
Grave. Melancholy lies beneath moving experiences of art; this is the tragedy of
beautys immaterial temporality.
Images from Rafaela Agapito
All the layers of history is on the walls of the museum, at parts it is peeled revealing
to the eye the irregularities that marks down the passage of time. The lime mor-
tar covering the old buildings seems to enhance the collage of textures, niches
and coverings which reflect the different ups-and-downs of the building throughout
time. The windows are buried, but are still there, a silhouette of what it once was.
Today there is no reason for them to be, but the memory is carved in the walls, the
rhythm still alive. The windows that do have function in the museum are at times
following the same rhythm as the timeless ones. In the new complex they gain a
whole new meaning: They pierce the building from inside out, creating areas of rest-
ing, seating. I find that extremely important in this building, it proved essential, since
allowed me to discuss with myself, allowed me to think about what I perceived and
learnt from the works of art. At times I use to sit by the window and look to the moving
image of the outside, no sound, no smell.
The choice of exposed concrete merge harmonically with the stonework from the
old buildings, in Questions of Perception, Pallasmaa clarify that the use of stone,
brick and wood allow our gaze to penetrate their surfaces and they enable us to
be convinced of the veracity of matter. This seems to be the theme of Can Framis,
all materials used inside and outside are natural ones. The impermanence state of
matter is one of the issues that seems to be the most poetic and melancholic for
me, for one to become aware of the imminent death of things and to learn to ap-
preciate the finite and passage of time is a lesson that nowadays seems to be lost.
The constant pursue of perfection from materials results on artificial things that fail
to make you feel aware of your existence, which leads me to believe that it is what
they seek, by not thinking about death they dont need to remember who they are.
Image from http://www.baas.
cat/en/equipamientos/mu-
seo-can-framis
Image from Rafaela Agapito
BI BLI OGRAPHY
Holl, S Pallasmaa, J & Prez-Gmez, A. Questions of perception: Phenomenology
of Architecture, A+U Publishing Co., San Francisco, 2008.
Zumthor, P. Thinking Architecture, 3rd ed., Birkauser , Basel.
Paul Brislin, Human, Experience and Place: Sustaining Identity, Architectural De-
sign, profile no 220 (2012).
Hale, Jonathan. Building Ideas: An Introduction to Architectural Theory, John Wiley
& Sons, LTD.

Calleja, J.M.Domnech, J.. (2013). La modernitat cauta. QUADERN. 192

Malpas, Jeff. Heideggers Topology: Being, Place, World, Cambridge, Mass: The MIT
Press, 2006, pg 274.
Norberg-Shulz, Christian. Heideggers Thinking on Architecture, Perspecta, Vol.20,
The MIT Press,1983, p68

Pallasmaa, Juhani. Notes on fragile architecture: Hapticity and Time, Architectural
Review, London: Emap, 2000.
Beata Sirowi, Phenomenological Concepts in Architecture. Towards a User Oriented
Practice, 2010.
Pallares-Barbera, M.Badia, A.Duchi, J. (2011). Cerd and Barcelona: The need for a
new city and service provision.
SITES
http://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/can-framis-museum-by-baas-bar-
celona-spain/8600875.article
http://www.baas.cat/en/equipamientos/museo-can-framis
http://www.archdaily.com/40219/cam-framis-museum-jordi-badia/