The National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MNAC) has presented its expansion plans, with the architectural project featuring two buildings, in two different palaces, connected by a covered corridor.
The project envisages renovating the Palau Victòria Eugènia, one of the buildings down the steps from the MNAC, and constructing a covered boulevard to connect it with the interior of the main museum building.
Rendered image of the covered walkway that will be built to connect the two MNAC buildings after its expansion / Guillem Roset
The works will mean that the museum will significantly increase its surface area, going from the current 49,000m2 up to 71,417m2.
The total cost of the project has an initial estimation of €112.66 million.
A rendering of the architectural plan for the to-be renovated Palau Victòria Eugènia, which will be the entrance to the new MNAC museum / Guillem Roset
Works will be done in several phases, with construction divided into two main chunks, beginning in the first quarter of 2028.
The first phase is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2029.
At a presentation event on Monday, directors of the MNAC celebrated that the expansion project will put an end to a ‘cultural anomaly’, the lack of a permanent space for the entire artistic creation of Catalonia. The expansion will allow the permanent display of all artistic creation in Catalonia without chronological limits.
The new era for the museum will be come at the time of the commemoration of the centenary of the 1929 International Exposition, and will be made in conjunction with the project of urban transformation of Montjuïc.
The development project also seeks to place art and culture at the center of public reflection, increase the presence and global dissemination of Catalan art and artists, and maintain a climate commitment and responsible heritage intervention.
During the presentation event, Monday was heralded as a “historic day,” marking the birth of the new MNAC.
The president of the museum, Joan Oliveras, acknowledged the design process has been “complex” and “bumpy,” but that the final stretch is finally being faced.
Director of the MNAC, Pepe Serra, who has been calling for this expansion for years, said it was “necessary” and “essential.”