The goals of the Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya, the Catalan Museum of Science and Technology, are to conserve and promote Catalonia’s scientific heritage and provide information upon its industrialisation, encourage understanding of the latest scientific and technical innovations and form the backbone of Catalonia’s network of science and technology museums.

The central site of the Museum is to be found in Terrassa, and is housed in a modernista mill, the Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover, built in 1909 to the design of architect Lluís Muncunill and considered one of the most beautiful factory buildings in Europe.

The Museum currently offers four permanent exhibitions:

• Lluís Muncunill architecture for the industry, Enérgeia, the Woollen Mill, Transport and Homo Faber.
• Lluís Muncunill architecture for the industry. Space for knowing the buildings of Muncunill architect.
• Enérgeia. An exhibition on energy, the key driving force behind industrialisation, Enérgeia is structured into seven thematic areas: muscular energies, wind and water, steam and coal, gas, electricity, petroleum and energy on the planet. To make these concepts more comprehensible, the exhibition uses a variety of tools, such as objects from the past, models, direct user experience, interactive and audio-visual displays, etc.
• The Woollen Mill. A tour of the mill?s energy-related areas: coal cellars, boilers, chimney and steam engine, and the production area, where the complete industrial process of wool production can be observed. Using materials, objects and staged scenes, the atmosphere of a period woollen mill is reconstructed in its original surroundings.
• Transport. Cars, trucks, engines and bicycles allow us to make a journey through the history of transport. The exhibition includes the Joaquim Gili model railway, restored by the Club Ferroviari de Terrassa (Terrassa Railway Club).Homo Faber. An exhibition explaining the evolution of science and technology from the first great Neolithic revolution until the beginnings of industrialisation.

The carillon and the solar panel wall. The carillon, formerly belonging to the Palau de la Generalitat, and dating from 1927, can be visited on the Museum’s terrace. Small concerts are offered on a regular basis to allow visitors to observe it in operation and enjoy its melodies. The silicon cell solar panel wall is one of the largest in Europe. This use of non-pollutant solar energy allows the Museum to produce is own electricity and permits great energy savings.

Dramatised demonstrations and tours of the exhibitions. On Saturdays and Sundays the Museum provides a variety of dramatised demonstrations and tours: demonstrations of different types of electrical discharges in Faraday?s Cage; demonstrations of the model railway with its complex network of lines and trains; the operation of the steam engine and its mechanisms; demonstrations of the workings of the textile machines, and dramatised visits to the exhibitions. The Sistema del Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya. The Museum is decentralised in structure, and is linked with a variety of different museums across Catalonia, each of which explains a specific aspect of Catalonia?s industrialisation. Together, they form the Catalan Museum of Science and Technology System.

Terrassa Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya
(Museum of Science and Technology in Catalonia)
Rambla d’Ègara, 270
08221 Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain
Contact: Jaume Matamala i Cura
Telephone (+34) 93 736 89 66
FAX (+34) 93 736 89 60
jmatamala@correu.gencat.es