CaixaForum

Lonely Planet review

Housed in a former Modernista factory, an outstanding brick caprice by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, this extensive private collection of contemporary art is in constant flux. The Caixa building society rotates its international line-up of works and organises frequent temporary exhibitions, which means that no two visits will be the same. Among the names in the permanent collection are such Spanish icons as Antoni Tàpies and Miquel Barceló.

The setting is a completely renovated former factory, the Fàbrica Casaramona, itself an outstanding modernista structure designed by Puig i Cadafalch. From 1940 to 1993 it housed the First Squadron of the police cavalry unit - 120 horses in all. Now it houses selected items of the 800-strong collection, rotated on view every month or two, while some space is set aside for external temporary exhibitions. The permanent collection includes works by Antoni Tàpies and Miquel Barceló, and a stone circle by Richard Long. In the courtyard where the police horses used to drink is a steel tree designed by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki.