{"id":62991,"date":"2016-02-24T18:30:15","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T17:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/?p=62991"},"modified":"2018-04-16T14:08:56","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T12:08:56","slug":"hidden-architectural-gem-in-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/hidden-architectural-gem-in-barcelona\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidden architectural gem in Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Dipo\u0300sit-de-les-Aigu\u0308es-books.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-62997\"><img class=\"alignleft wp-image-62997 \" title=\"Copyright: Karen Matthews (author)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Dipo\u0300sit-de-les-Aigu\u0308es-books-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Dipo\u0300sit de les Aigu\u0308es books\" width=\"273\" height=\"273\" \/><\/a>From its\u00a0outside, the general library at <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.upf.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Universitat Pompeu Fabra<\/a><\/strong> (UPF) in Barcelona looks just like any of the other buildings making up the university\u2019s centrally located campus. But just like a book shouldn&#8217;t be\u00a0judged by its cover, you need to delve a little deeper to experience an inspiring <strong>architectural conversion<\/strong> of one of <strong>Barcelona\u2019s buildings<\/strong> from the past.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">For a <strong>visitor to Barcelona<\/strong>, or for those who have been in the city for a while and looking to extend their exploration of its spectacular buildings, the conversion of the <strong>Dip\u00f2sit de les Aig\u00fces<\/strong> to a space within the UPF general library is well worth the trip.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/hidden-architectural-gem-in-barcelona\/#Whats_the_history\" title=\"What\u2019s the history?\">What\u2019s the history?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/hidden-architectural-gem-in-barcelona\/#Whats_there_to_see\" title=\"What\u2019s there to see?\">What\u2019s there to see?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/hidden-architectural-gem-in-barcelona\/#Who_can_go_and_when\" title=\"Who can go and when?\">Who can go and when?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/hidden-architectural-gem-in-barcelona\/#How_to_get_there\" title=\"How to get there?\">How to get there?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Whats_the_history\"><\/span><b>What\u2019s the history?<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Dip\u00f2sit de les Aig\u00fces was designed in 1874 by architect <strong>Josep Fontser\u00e8<\/strong>, as a reservoir building to store water for the nearby <strong>Parc de la Ciutadella<\/strong>, which is one of the largest <strong>green spaces in Barcelona<\/strong> with a lake and landscaped gardens. The aquatic features of the park were once served by the reservoir building that now forms part of the UPF general library.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The original building was similar to that found in large Roman reservoirs, almost identical to the impressive <strong>Piscina Mirabile in Bocoli<\/strong>, near Naples. But there&#8217;s one important difference between the two buildings: the water for the Piscina Mirabile was stored below the arches and thus the structure had to sustain only its own weight. However, Fontser\u00e8 designed the arches of the Dip\u00f2sit de les Aig\u00fces to hold 10,000 tons of water at a height of 17.5 meters above the level of the floor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Interestingly, one of the assistants who helped Fontser\u00e8 with the structural calculations was a young <strong>Antoni Gaud\u00ed<\/strong>, who later became famous for building the <strong>Sagrada Fam\u00edlia<\/strong>, one of <strong>Barcelona&#8217;s icons<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Related article:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/important-catalan-architects\/\" target=\"_blank\">Important Catalan Architects<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Once there was no longer a requirement for the reservoir\u2019s use for the Parc de la Ciutadella and prior to its conversion to the general library at UPF, the building\u00a0was used as an exhibition space, archive of the Criminal Court hospital and a film studio.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Whats_there_to_see\"><\/span><b>What\u2019s there to see?<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Dipo\u0300sit-de-les-Aigu\u0308es-walls.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-62999\"><img class=\"wp-image-62999 size-medium alignright\" title=\"Copyright: Karen Matthews (author)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Dipo\u0300sit-de-les-Aigu\u0308es-walls-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>The design elements preserved as part of the conversion present an impressive view on arrival into the space at UPF, which now serves as a fully operational library with shelved reading materials, reading desks as well as study rooms. The original design of the walls, which include openings that run to the height to the roof, are crowned with arches and cause the partitions in the walls to look similar to a series of independent pillars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.upf.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Universitat Pompeu Fabra<\/a> describe it as a space combining two elements: modernity and quality.\u00a0The first is a commitment to the needs of the university community, while the element of quality is the result of a skilful adaptation of the space to its\u00a0new use.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>The conversion has been designed to induce a sense of tranquility and silence similar to a monastic space.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_can_go_and_when\"><\/span><b>Who can go and when?<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Dip\u00f2sit de les Aig\u00fces within the UPF general library is open to the public from Monday to Friday from 8.00am and over the weekends from 10.00am.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_get_there\"><\/span><b>How to get there?<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">UPF\u00a0is close to the <strong>Marina metro station<\/strong> and <strong>Ciutadella | Vila Olimpica metro station<\/strong>. When you&#8217;re inside the main entrance of the library, which is located at the Jaume I building on Carrer de Sardenya, simply follow the signs marked Dip\u00f2sit de les Aig\u00fces.<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: none;\"\n    class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-valign-bottom kksr-align-left \"\n    data-id=\"62991\"\n    data-slug=\"\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 137.5px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-legend\">\n            <strong class=\"kksr-score\">4.7<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\/<\/span>\n        <strong>5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">(<\/span>\n        <strong class=\"kksr-count\">3<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\n            votes        <\/span>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From its\u00a0outside, the general library at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in Barcelona looks just like any of the other buildings making up the university\u2019s centrally located campus. But just like a book shouldn&#8217;t be\u00a0judged by its cover, you need to delve a little deeper to experience an inspiring architectural conversion of one of Barcelona\u2019s buildings [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":63006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[615],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62991"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62991"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95267,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62991\/revisions\/95267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}