Ever since its inauguration in the summer of 1975, Fundació Joan Miro overlooks Barcelona from the hillside of Montjuïc. Similar to both Fondation Maeght and the sibling foundation on Mallorca, this is a place where the visitor can spend many hours, perhaps even a whole day, as the building is designed as an interplay between architecture and art. You can oscillate between studying the artworks and relaxing on the rooftop or on the small terrace, visit the shop or stop for lunch in the restaurant or enjoy a coffee in the shaded courtyard. 

Many of the artworks were donated by Miró himself, including the famous “Hermitage of San-Juan Huerta”, “Street Pedralbes”, and “Portrait of a boy”. There is also a space dedicated to promoting the work of young experimental artists, initially an idea by Miró but translated into architecture by Sert. 

At the time of its construction, twenty years after the opening of the Palma foundation, the museum was considered a major event in Barcelona, as it was the beginning of what today is a popular cultural infrastructure in this neighbourhood. Visitors can easily walk between the Miró museum and the Mies van der Rohe pavilion, on the way stopping at the imposing National Art Museum of Catalonia, or continuing onward to the cultural centre CaixaForum. Sert’s museum building reflects his rationalist inspiration; ratios based on the Modulor are blended with an architectural language present in Mediterranean Culture. 

What the visitor will mostly clearly pick up on is the building’s volumetric composition that internally provides a dynamic of levels while also creating spacious, double height rooms with indirect natural lighting, perfect for displaying sensitive artworks. It also allows a series of outdoor patios that connect elements between rooms while providing transparency for the entire space. You can glimpse into other parts of the building through windows, staircases and wide hallways that interconnect different parts with one another. 

The use of spatial continuity is a key element in the building, combined with flexibility between spaces. More than anything, Sert’s inspiration in Le Corbusier is evident in both the functional structure and rational style, while also respecting the soft, warm Mediterranean heritage. 

Similar to the Mallorca site, the professional and personal friendship between Miró and Sert is evident, as architecture and art appear to be engaging in respectful dialogue through the way that the building allows space for the artworks to be presented, while also letting the building itself have its own unique personality. Two years after it was built, it won the “Council of Europe Museum Prize” and “Twenty-five year award” in 2002. Sert’s white-painted space is today home to more than 14,000 Miró pieces.