In its time it was one of the main buildings of the exhibition, and before it the Palace of Fine Arts had ceased to exist. It was at the end of the main street running from the Arc de Triomf to the Parc de la Ciutadella. Work began in September 1887, and suffered many delays, and so, on April 8, the day of the inauguration, it was not ready, delaying its opening until August 17. For this reason Domènech i Montaner resigned as the responsible architect.At the end of exhibition, Domenech himself installed an industrial arts workshop related to architecture, with the possible collaboration of Antoni Maria Gallissài Tighten. Later it was dedicated to museum purposes, being a museum of history, archeology, biology and natural sciences. During the Spanish Civil War it was closed, after suffering some damage by bombing aviation Franco. From 1942 to 1945 it was chair of Social Aid to be definitely aimed at Museum of Zoology. In the 1980s it was restored by architects Cristian Cirici, Pep Bonet and Carles Bassó. Until 2010 it hosted zoology collections of the Museum of Natural Sciences of Catalonia in Catalan: Museu Nacional de Ciències Naturals de Catalunya, when they were transferred to the Forum Building.
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