Centre Cultural La Model
District: Eixample
Neighborhood: la Nova Esquerra de l'Eixample
La Model was designed with the aim of being an exemplary penitentiary centre. Built on the outskirts of Barcelona in 1904, the prison occupied two city blocks of the Eixample and unveiled an innovative architectural design in the form of a panopticon. This architectural feature had a polygonal central body, where the guards were located, from which six galleries extended radially with about 600 cells where prisoners were housed. Inspired by the ideas of the British jurist and philosopher Jeremy Bentham and designed by Salvador Vinyals Sabaté and Josep Domènech Estapà, this structure enabled an exceptional surveillance and control system.
Throughout the 20th century, as Barcelona grew around it, La Model became the place where people who took part in all kinds of revolts were imprisoned. During Franco's regime, the cells of this compound housed thousands of political prisoners, especially in the 1940s, during the great post-war repression. The chaplain of La Model, in fact, highlighted the overcrowding of the prison in 1941. Within those walls, at least 24 people were executed by garotte vil which are documented today.
On 10 January 2017, Barcelona City Council and the Generalitat signed the agreement to close the centre. This was in response to a long-standing claim from the local neighbourhood. On 8 June 2017, one day before its 113th anniversary, the prison was closed for good.
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