The Pavilion of the Spanish Republic, an understated structure following the principles of rationalist architecture, was designed by Josep Lluís Sert and Luis Lacasa to represent the Spanish Republic at the 1937 International Exposition in Paris.

The programme of exhibitions and activities held in the pavilion at this international event were intended as a public denouncement of the war being waged against Spanish democracy by the Francoists.

The building itself was conceived as an empty container of approximately 1,400 m², with almost no walls and three floors. The entrance and porch of the ground floor featured politically charged works by Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Julio González and Alberto Sánchez, which welcomed visitors and provided context for what they would encounter inside the pavilion. Beyond the porch, the ground floor opened onto a courtyard, covered with a movable canvas, which served as an open-air auditorium and activity space. The first floor was devoted to an exhibition on the policies and projects of the democratic government, while the second floor focused on plastic and popular arts.

The pavilion was reconstructed in Barcelona’s Vall d’Hebron district on the occasion of the 1992 Olympic Games and today houses the library of the University of Barcelona, specialising in the period spanning from the Second Spanish Republic to the Spanish transition to democracy.