AN OLD FACTORY

València, 1930. Carlos Gens Minguet runs the old family workshop  which, over time, has become a factory that manufactures small machinery, industrial valves and hydraulic pumps. The GEYDA brand he created with his business partner, Rafael Dalli, is gaining notoriety and the company needs a new building in order to meet its new needs.

For its construction, Gens looks for a prestigious architect: Cayetano Borso di Carminati. He asks him for a different and innovative design for his new factory to be built in today’s Avinguda  de Burjassot.

A TESTIMONY OF WAR

The interior of the old factory contains an air-raid shelter built in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War, used to protect the factory workers from bombing. According to oral testimonies, the air-raids worsened once the factory began to produce armaments. The shelter is of special value as it is one of the very few examples of an industrial building in the city.

A MEDIEVAL REMNANT

During its renovation, a cellar dating from the end of the 15th century was discovered, the same period of the Lonja of Valencia and other buildings. The room is maintained intact with elements of high archaeological value such as crockery, kitchen ceramic or tiles from the adjoining farmhouse, providing wider knowledge of the traditional way of living in the Valencian Huerta, connected with another similar farmhouse few metres away, in the Marxalenes Park.

ART EXPANDS INTO THE ENVIRONMENT

Bombas Gens has transformed into a garden what was previously the factory’s backyard: A 1.147 m2 peaceful space that inherits a modernist tradition and creates a lush and colourful garden. A sculptural, site-specific work by artist Cristina Iglesias is placed in the área.