Title

Author(s)

Armando Consoli

Affiliation

ETSAM, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid,

DOI

https://doi.org/10.65686/XVHU5744

Keywords

Adaptive Reuse, Gae Aulenti, Architecture within Architecture, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), Museum Design.

PP

227-234

How to Cite

Consoli, Armando. “Transforming the Palau Nacional: Gae Aulenti’s Evolving Approach to Architectural Adaptive Reuse Criticism, Context, and Design Compromise.” In Proceedings of the International Conference on Adaptive Reuse. Volume 1, edited by Andrea Crudeli, Francesca Molle, and Emanuele Carrai, 227–234. Firenze: STH Press, 2026.

Abstract

The Palau Nacional in Montjuïc revitalized the debate over the adaptive reuse of historic buildings in Spain in the 1980s. In 1980, its state of deterioration divided public opinion: on the one hand, those who recognized its urban value, as a scenic conclusion to the Avenida Maria Cristina, on the other, the detractors, who criticized its architectural-aesthetic qualities. In preparation for the 1992 Olympics, the Barcelona City Council commissioned Gae Aulenti to transform it into the headquarters of the Catalonia’s national art museum. The project, developed between 1986 and 2004, reveals an evolution in her design approach. Initially characterized by a postmodern and monumental language with “architecture within architecture”, as in the Musée d’Orsay intervention, the first project was criticized for being too ornamental and detached from its pre-existence. An example of this is the idea, later abandoned, to introduce a water basin in the Oval Room. Later modifications of the project marked a design change toward a more integrated approach: Aulenti renounced the scenographic rhetoric in favor of human-scale installations, which valorized the pre-existing. This new, more balanced vision would continue to characterize her future projects. This case shows how a process of adaptive reuse can be a laboratory for critical reflection, where the dialogue between past and present evolves through design compromises.

Edited by
Andrea Crudeli
Francesca Molle
Emanuele Carrai

Publisher
STH Press, Firenze

ISBN Paperback – 9791281661141
ISBN Ebook – 9791281661158
DOI – https://doi.org/10.65686/SISY7263

Year
2026

Proceedings of
International Conference on Adaptive Reuse
hosted by The University of Pisa, Italy
15-19 September 2025, at the Gispoteca di Arte Antica dell’Università di Pisa.