The National Museum of Science and Industry of Catalonia () known by its acronym (mNACTEC) is one of the three national

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

s of

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, located in

Terrassa Terrassa () is a city in central-eastern Catalonia and in the province of Barcelona (Spain). It is one of the two capitals of Vallès Occidental county, being the larger in both area and population. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ''Te ...

, near

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Its mission is to showcase and promote an understanding of scientific, technical and industrial culture, and furthermore to preserve, study and present the establishment and evolution of scientific and technical advances in Catalonia, their industrial application, and above all their social implications and impact. The museum is an anchor point on the

European Route of Industrial Heritage The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a tourist route of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. This is a tourism industry information initiative to present a network of industrial heritage sites across Europe. The ...

Building

The museum is housed in the iconic ''Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover'' in Terrassa near Barcelona. It was designed by the Catalan architect

Lluís Muncunill Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

for Messrs Aymerich, Amat i Jover in 1909. He solved the problem of roofing the immense weaving shed with row upon row of 161 shell-shaped half arches, each with gently curving windows: this served the same function as the saw-toothed north lights in a Lancashire

weaving shed A weaving shed is a distinctive type of cotton mill, mill developed in the early 1800s in Lancashire, :Derbyshire and Yorkshire to accommodate the new power looms weaving cotton, silk, woollen and worsted. A weaving shed can be a stand-alone ...

. The columns broke up the usable space of the factory so had to be carefully placed around the looms. The columns functioned as rain water drainage, and held the

line shaft A line shaft is a power-driven rotating shaft for power transmission that was used extensively from the Industrial Revolution until the early 20th century. Prior to the widespread use of electric motors small enough to be connected directly to ...

ing that transmitted power from the

stationary steam engine Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam car ...

to the looms. The engine house and other parts of the building feature the

Catalan vault The Catalan vault (), also called thin-tile vault, Catalan turn, Catalan arch, boveda ceiling (Spanish ''bóveda'' 'vault'), or timbrel vault, is a type of low brickwork arch forming a vaulted ceiling that often supports a floor above. It is co ...

. The factory was severely affected by the flooding of 1963 () and it finally closed in 1978. It was bought by the state in 1983 and opened as a museum.

Museum

mNACTEC runs several museums across Catalonia, this one specialises on textiles. The aim of the museum is to provide a comprehensive overview of the history of knowledge and technology in Catalonia, and the process of industrialisation. It starts with the Neolithic revolution, shows power generation techniques with waterwheels, electricity and turbine drives and solar technology.

Collections

;Lluís Muncunill: the works of the architect ;Homo Faber: evolution of technology, from

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

times up to the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

;The

textile mill Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...

(La Fàbrica Tèxtil):A complete cotton factory ;Enérgeia: Energy ;El transport i motos Montesa: Collection of cars, lorries, engines, aeroplanes, motorbikes and bicycles. ;La terrassa del Sol: experiments investigating the power and functioning of the sun. ;Mentora Alsina: Virtual visit to the physics laboratory of

Ferran Alsina Ferran () is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aude department The following is a list of the 433 Communes of France, communes of the Aude Departments of France, department of Fra ...

. ;Área d'interpretació del mNACTEC: multifunctional space relating to the industry of Catalonia. ;El cos humà: Interpretation of the body and the Fundació-Museu d'Història de la Medicina de Catalunya, historic medical instrument collection.mnactec.cat collections

References

;Notes ;Footnotes

External links

Museum Website
{{Authority control Industry museums in Catalonia Terrassa 1983 establishments in Catalonia Textile museums in Catalonia Technology museums in Spain European Route of Industrial Heritage Anchor Points Buildings and structures in Vallès Occidental Museums established in 1983