The new Barcelona History Museum site at the Cases Barates in the Sant Andreu district’s Bon Pastor neighbourhood reflects the history of housing in Barcelona during the 20th century by turning a block of this working-class neighbourhood’s “cases barates” (literally, “cheap housing”), one of the four housing estates built in the city in 1929, into a museum.
The block is made up of sixteen houses, ten of which have been turned into museums: four tell the story of the fight for housing in the city and four others show what life was like in the Bon Pastor neighbourhood, in addition to illustrating how the interiors of these “cases barates” evolved from 1929 to 2017. The other two explore more general aspects of these themes.

The space was created thanks to a collaboration between local residents, the Sant Andreu district and the Barcelona History Museum (Barcelona Institute of Culture). The Cases Barates museum project was launched in 2010 at the initiative of the Bon Pastor Neighbourhood Association, which secured support from the Sant Andreu district and the Barcelona Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation.