LES SORRES X

The museographic project for the Sorres X wreck was, from the beginning, a series of coincidences that allowed the project solution to occur naturally. The site for the project, within the Museu Marítim de Barcelona, is located in the western part of the complex, next to some windows that allow the space to dialogue with the medieval walls outside, contemporary to the vessel on display.

The gravel bed that was found at the base of the wall between the windows and the medieval architecture, is proposed in the project “entering” the museum as a liquid seabed that will serve as a friendly support for the wreck, almost mimetically as it was found and excavated by archaeologists in the 90s, thus serving as a respectful support to the maximum for the piece to be exhibited.

The rest, the agitated sea of sheet metal that serves as a limit to the visitor, is a metallic continuum, naval constructive material of 15mm thick that folds in harmony with the pre-existing architecture, serving as a support for the graphics on the walls, perforating itself to accommodate showcases, It folds like gills to accommodate lighting, folds like waves to protect the archaeological piece, and serves as a graphic support on the pavement to guide the visitor with medieval marine graphic references that indicate north-south, as the nautical charts once did for sailors.

This exhibition was inaugurated on February 25, 2019, following the recovery and conservation work. The vessel was found in Castelldefels in 1990 during the construction of the Olympic Canal and dates from the second half of the 14th century.

Along with the exhibition of the remains of the Sorres X boat, two boats from the early 20th century are on display, which allow formal analogies to be established with the medieval boat. These boats are the caro d’art Papet, from 1907 and the sailing boat Madrona, from 1924. The exhibition is completed with various panels explaining the world of navigation in the fourteenth century along with a graphic of medieval inspiration, a model of the Sorres X boat at 1:20 scale, fragments of a jar that carried the wreck, remains of the contents of the jars consisting of preserved fish (fish vertebrae, shells, scales), a fragment of a jar with the seal of provenance and an audiovisual showing the restoration process carried out by the Museu Marítim de Barcelona.

This intimate relationship of the architecture of the sea of Sorres X and the architecture of the city and its wall to the west, allowed a harmonization and overall summary of the Barcelona of medieval times.

Location: mmb, Museu Marítim Barcelona, Spain Museum Design: Rocamora Diseño y Arquitectura Photographs: Cabrera Photo