The Laboratorio General de Ensayos of Barcelona (1922): technical and city

Abstract

The laboratory was the most significant component of the new science-based industry - chemistry and electricity- which developed in the last third of the nineteenth century. The laboratory was the centre for testing, but also the scene for practical and theoretical apprenticeship. The growth of technical laboratories in Catalonia was related to the spread of science-based industry and to the consolidation of modern cities, which included a network of transports, supplies and services. An official laboratory based on the engineering schools of the Escola Industrial de Barcelona was found in 1922.