Despite all the controversy that the construction of the Hermitage Museum in Barcelona has been causing for years, its inauguration is just around the corner. Its opening is scheduled for 2022.
What is the Hermitage of Barcelona?
In 2012 it was decided that the Hermitage museum in Saint Petersburg, one of the most important in the world, would open a branch in Barcelona. In this way, in the art gallery of the city of Barcelona you will be able to see multiple works loaned by the Russian museum during the 50 years that the signed license will last.
Once the museum opens its doors, more than 850,000 people are expected to visit, of which 70% will be tourists. Following this plan, it is estimated that it will reach 1.5 million visitors after 13 years in operation.
The building has been designed by the famous architect Toyo Ito and will be built on a 3,240 square meter plot in Plaça dels Vents. For now we know that the Museum will be 25 meters high divided into various floors, one of which will be underground and will be used for a parking lot.
What will the new Hermitage look like?
On the ground floor there will be a lobby from which the various rooms will start, including a cafeteria, restaurant, multipurpose rooms or offices. On the first floor you will find one of the six exhibition rooms that the museum will have. In addition, this floor will house other rooms such as a store or an art bookstore. The rest of the exhibition rooms will be distributed and the roof will be completely passable.
Regarding the six rooms, of which we have already spoken, various exhibitions will be installed, among which two stand out: In the largest room, of 800 square meters, you can visit one of the two permanent exhibitions of works from the Hermitage. In a second room, a little smaller, there will be a collection of its own, the great surprise of the museum. In addition, the Hermitage in Barcelona will have two other rooms for temporary exhibitions as well as a »talent room» and one for the «play of the month».
The construction will end with an area of 16,493 square meters, of which almost 4,000 will be used for exhibition.
