Antiga Fàbrica Mercedes
The old Enmasa factory, Empresa Nacional de Motors d'Aviació, is an emblematic industrial or agricultural building built between 1940 and 1975, which represents the city's rich industrial history. It is the work of the architect Robert Terrades and is located at Carrer de sant Adrià, number 65. It belongs to the style of the modern movement and rationalism and is characterized by its impressive architecture and its typical brick structure of the time.
Previously, the space had been occupied by the Elizalde car factory, bombed during the Civil War. It wasn't until 1981 that car production returned to these grounds, this time by Mercedes-Benz.
The location of the factory on the outskirts of the city allows the free arrangement of the volumes and the incorporation of the outdoor space as one of the most important elements of this project. The availability of large free areas means that the volumes of the factory become visual limits rather than physical objects, and that a dynamic component is introduced in the outdoor space.
The building expresses its own constructive vocation to develop its language, avoiding the widespread use of plaster that hid the construction in most buildings prior to World War II.
The program is organized around two types of buildings. The offices are distributed along some linear buildings, built with concrete, which extend in various directions configuring the accesses, streets and squares of the entire industrial complex, in a much more varied and dynamic way than in the space traditional urban The workshops occupy a much lighter ship, built with a metal structure, on which rest the saw teeth that illuminate the interior space in a uniform manner.
For many years, the factory was a key production centre for the city's metallurgical industry, with numerous workers engaged in the production of various types of metal products. The building was designed at a time when industrial production introduced new construction systems, which the architect took advantage of to experiment with all kinds of formal and technological innovations: he introduced a design of curved windows that incorporate the elements resistant to metal carpentry; uses, for the first time, the forge solution collaborating to resist loads of 2000 kg/m2; he applies gresite locks on the stairs and in the design of the headboard, and designs the furniture claiming the figure of the architect as the total director of the work.
Currently, the old Enmasa factory has been converted into a multifunctional space, which has been restored with great care to preserve its original architecture and history. The building is now used as a cultural center, offering spaces for exhibitions, concerts, conferences and other activities.
For history and architecture lovers, the old Enmasa factory is a must-see in Barcelona, as it offers a unique opportunity to see the old industrial architecture and discover its fascinating history.
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