Casa Àsia

Casa Àsia review

This cultural centre for Asia and the Asian Pacific is housed in the jaw-droppingly ornate Palau Baró de Quadras, designed by Puig i Cadafalch. If you can tear your eyes away from the lavish carvings and mosaics, there are a variety of excellent temporary exhibits covering anything from modern Chinese abstract art to Iranian graphics. The underlying function of this organisation, however, is the promotion of Asian culture in Barcelona with language courses, international conferences and cinema cycles (often subtitled in English). It also features an oriental café on the ground floor and an excellent multimedia library on the fourth floor, which allows visitors to hire CDs, DVDs and books on presentation of their passport or ID card.