A CROWN OF EYES

If you ever find yourself in Barcelona—a city infused with artistic spirit—you're bound to encounter historic buildings, cultural landmarks, and world-class museums at every turn. Yet beyond the weight of history, the urban fabric is also punctuated by art installations that seamlessly blend traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design. Wandering through its streets and alleyways often feels like strolling through an open-air gallery—astonishing at every corner. One such moment of awe awaits inside the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), located on Montjuïc Hill. There, beneath the soaring 45-meter-high dome of the central hall—originally part of the Palau Nacional—you’ll find a monumental mural by Francesc d’Assís Galí. His fresco features 35 allegorical figures representing various branches of knowledge, each rendered in meticulous detail. It’s staggering to imagine that Galí created this masterpiece over six grueling months while standing on scaffolding nearly 30 meters high. Yet amid this grand neoclassical setting, one might be surprised to find a massive, blue, crown-like ring suspended from the ceiling.

This striking contemporary intervention is no coincidence. Commissioned by MNAC to commemorate a major retrospective of Francesc d’Assís Galí, the installation—titled A Crown of Eyes—was created by the architecture duo Anna & Eugeni Bach. It serves both as a visual tribute to the fresco above and a conceptual homage to Galí’s educational philosophy. Before delving into the meaning of this bold, modern installation, it is worth recalling Galí’s significance in early 20th-century Catalan art. In addition to being a prolific painter, draughtsman, and muralist, he played a key role in graphic arts and illustration. As a leading figure of the Noucentisme movement in Spain, Galí was instrumental in reforming art education in Catalonia and founded an academy that trained some of the country’s most renowned modern artists, including Joan Miró and Llorens Artigas.

Viewed today, A Crown of Eyes offers a vivid spatial manifestation of Galí’s lasting influence on Catalan modernism. Using vibrant color and bold geometry, Anna & Eugeni Bach give form to Galí’s abstract pedagogical approach. The concept for the piece stems from Galí’s outdoor excursions with students to the Montseny mountains, where he instructed them to bring no tools—only to wear an imaginary “crown of eyes.” His intent was to train them to observe nature attentively, distilling its essence before interpreting it artistically. This circular blue structure, measuring 12 meters in diameter and embedded with 16 eye-like reliefs, floats lightly 6 meters above the museum floor. Each “eye” symbolizes one of the 16 columns that support the hall’s dome. The installation hovers at the same height as the scaffolding Galí once stood on, aligning visually with the dome’s celestial apex. Through this vivid juxtaposition of old and new, the installation bridges past and future—underscoring Barcelona’s enduring commitment to artistic experimentation and creative legacy.

Principal | Anna Bach, Eugeni Bach, Artur Muñoz, Virginia Mars

Collaborators | Roger Molas, Claudia Senovilla

Structural Engineer | Nacho Costales／Best

Quantity Surveyor | Ramon Cisa／BetArq 

Character of Space | Residence

Materials | Installation

Location | Barcelona, Spain