A Legacy of Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana. Casa Gomis acquired by Ministry of Culture

Following the three-month European Nomad Biennial 2024, where Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana opened the rationalist icon that is Casa Gomis to the public, the Ministry of Culture has acquired it to ensure its transformation into a cultural centre.

To demonstrate how decentralised cultural infrastructures can lead to socio-economic transitions, Casa Gomis, better known as La Ricarda (1949-1962), was designed by the architect Antoni Bonet, selected two years ago to focus on the need to protect the natural environment from industrial invasion, represents a milestone that highlights both the national heritage and the rich natural environment of such significant works, encouraging a commitment to renovation and conservation.

Casa Gomis acquired by Ministry of Culture. Photograph by Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana / Helena Roig.

Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana proudly opened Casa Gomis, a Modernist architectural site in the Llobregat Delta, to the public as part of its "Balancing Conflicts" cluster. Over the course of the three-month biennial in 2024, the venue welcomed 58,281 visits, becoming a key platform for raising awareness of the site's cultural and environmental significance.

Yesterday, Spanish Minister of Culture Ernest Urtasun announced the Ministry’s acquisition of Casa Gomis, ensuring its preservation as a cultural centre. This milestone underscores the transformative potential of Manifesta 15 as an incubator for social and ecological change.

Casa Gomis acquired by Ministry of Culture. Photograph by Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana / Helena Roig.

Casa Gomis was selected for the biennial two years ago to spotlight the imminent threat of demolition due to the proposed expansion of Barcelona El Prat Airport, and to emphasise the need to protect the surrounding natural environment from industrial encroachment.

“The Ministry of Culture’s acquisition of Casa Gomis, just six weeks after the biennial's conclusion, is a remarkable achievement. Preserving this iconic site safeguards both its national heritage and the rich natural environment that surrounds it.”

Hedwig Fijen, Director of Manifesta 15.

Casa Gomis acquired by Ministry of Culture. Photograph by Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana / Helena Roig.

The transformation of Casa Gomis into a cultural centre aligns with Manifesta 15’s mission to demonstrate how decentralised cultural infrastructures can drive socio-ecological transitions.

“Casa Gomis is a very important but largely unknown building. Manifesta 15 opened it to the general public and made visible its significance. Now we have to make permanent what Manifesta initiated: a space to think of the relationship between art and nature in times of the climate emergency.”

Jordi Martí, State Secretary for the Ministry of Culture.

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Antoni BONET i CASTELLANA

Antoni Bonet i Castellana, known as Antonio Bonet, (Barcelona, August 13, 1913 - September 13, 1989) was an architect, urban planner and Spanish designer, who lives in the River Plate for most of his life.

He began his professional career with the architects Josep Lluís Sert and Torres Clavé, who founded the MIDVA (Home Furnishings current housing). In those years he was a member of GATCPAC. In 1936, just completed his architectural studies, travels to Paris where he joined the studio of Le Corbusier.

River Plate. Spanish Civil War broke out, and decided to emigrate to the Rio de la Plata. He lived in the city of Buenos Aires in Argentina and in Punta del Este in Uruguay.

Austral Group founder Jorge Ferrari Hardoy in conjunction with and Juan Kurchan. He is credited with its partners the mythical BKF, although the authorship of it is finally assigned to the Argentine Jorge Ferrari Hardoy. Projects the House of Studies for Artists in Buenos Aires; and Terrace Palace building and Rivadavia and the Americas in Mar del Plata galleries. Built numerous buildings on the coast of Punta Ballena (notable Solana del Mar hotel and Berlingieri house in Portezuelo), which makes urbanization. Also works projects in Paraguay, residing for decades in Buenos Aires, traveling to Barcelona and Madrid.

Barcelona. Barcelona projected the Ricarda (1949-1963) and Greyhound Track Meridiana, by which received a 1963 FAD architecture prize. Likewise he projected between 1960-1965, together with Josep Puig Torné, the residential complex of Pine Beach, Gava Mar, on behalf of society FAESA family Guardans Cambo, example of rationalist construction advocated by the Bauhaus and applied by the GATCPAC, grouping to which belonged.

Theory. He considered architecture as an organizing matter in the life of man and believed that the activity of the architect extended from the conception of a piece of furniture to a city planning. One of his constant was the effort to integrate the various scales of the human habitat, researching new materials and shapes for architectural spaces and furniture in the service of society.

Published on: January 9, 2025

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