Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover (mNACTEC), Terrassa
A wool factory whose roof is a wave of parabolic vaults, now Catalonia’s museum of science and industry.
At a glance
The Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover is a Modernista textile factory in Terrassa, designed by Lluís Muncunill i Parellada (1868–1931) and built between 1907 and 1908. Across a weaving hall of almost 12,000 square metres Muncunill spread row upon row of shell-shaped parabolic half-arches in brick, each lit by a gently curved skylight. The whole process of turning wool into cloth happened under that roof. Since the 1980s the building has held the National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia (mNACTEC).
Key facts
- Location: Rambla d’Ègara 270, Terrassa
- Architect: Lluís Muncunill i Parellada
- Built: 1907–1908
- Style: Modernista industrial (steam-powered wool mill)
- Today: mNACTEC, the National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia
History
Terrassa grew rich on wool, and the steam-powered factory, the vapor, was its engine. Muncunill, the city’s leading Modernista architect, gave the firm of Aymerich, Amat i Jover a single vast shed in which the entire transformation of wool could take place, from combing and carding to spinning, weaving and dyeing.
The mill worked for decades, then closed as the textile industry declined. The Generalitat of Catalonia bought the building in 1983, and after restoration it reopened as the seat of mNACTEC, which tells the story of Catalonia’s industrialisation inside the very kind of building that made it.
What you see
The masterpiece is the roof. One hundred and sixty-one parabolic brick half-arches march across the hall in long parallel rows, each one carrying a curved band of north-facing glass so the light falls even and shadowless on the looms. Muncunill turned a purely industrial problem, how to roof and light an enormous floor, into something close to a brick cathedral.
Today the great hall holds steam engines, looms and machines, and the museum keeps the original chimney and the rhythm of the arches intact. It is one of the finest pieces of Modernista industrial architecture anywhere.
Practical information
- Open: as a museum (mNACTEC); closed some weekdays
- Cost: museum admission
- Best for: the parabolic arched roof of the weaving hall
- Time needed: 1–2 hours
Getting there
The museum is on the Rambla d’Ègara in central Terrassa, a short walk from the FGC and Renfe stations, about 30 km from Barcelona.
Nearby
- Masia Freixa — Muncunill’s white Modernista villa in the Parc de Sant Jordi
- Terrassa city centre — the Modernista mills and market of the wool town
Sources
- mNACTEC (mnactec.cat) — the Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover
- Arquitectura Catalana (arquitecturacatalana.cat) — the factory
- Wikimedia Commons — image source and licence
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