New

Gaudí's invisible garden

The unknown work of the modernist genius at the former Sant Boi de Llobregat Mental Asylum

Until December 1, 2024

The exhibition "Gaudí's Invisible Garden" reveals an unknown architectural complex by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (Reus or Riudoms, 1852 - Barcelona, 1926) within the gardens of the former Sant Boi de Llobregat Mental Asylum.

Built between 1903 and 1912, the modernist garden features grottos, lakes and benches with mosaic tiling. The garden was recently attributed to the architect Antoni Gaudí, seen as one of the supreme figures of the Modernist movement.

The modernist complex contains architectural elements with formal characteristics and symbolic content –connected with the text of the Book of Revelation– linking it to some of the most important works that Gaudí was building during the same period, or went on to erect straight after.

"Gaudí's Invisible Garden” is an exhibition based on the research contained in the doctoral thesis Gaudí and the gardens of the former Sant Boi de Llobregat Mental Asylum, by David Agulló Galilea, Doctor of Architecture, researcher and curator of the exhibition.

The exhibition will be on display in the MNACTEC Arts Area, divided into 9 sections:

  1. A concealed modernist garden
  2. The architectural elements
  3. Social hygiene and Catholicism
  4. The rock gardens and homage to Our Lady of Lourdes
  5. The trace of the Sant Boi garden in other works by Gaudí
  6. Gaudí and form
  7. A symbolic reading
  8. The reasons for its neglect
  9. The unmistakable imprint of Gaudí