This
was a single-family home commissioned by Eusebi Güell
and built in the historical center of Barcelona, planned
as an extension of another property that he had on La
Rambla, with which it was at one time connected.
Gaudí carried out the project meticulously and
worked with the best craftsmen of the period to create
what would be one of the most luxurious residences of
the city. The new mansion served thus as a home, where
the Güell family’s sumptuous private parties
and cultural celebrations were held; it became a real
symbol of the industrialist’s family’s economic
power and artistic sensibility. Although the building
was almost finished in 1888, when the Universal Exposition,
the first held in Spain, was held in the city, its magnificent
decoration and the finishing of all the details delayed
its conclusion until 1890.
The
building consists of six levels laid out in various
ways (basement, ground floor, mezzanine, and three other
floors). Its architectural conception stands out, with
a central hall that is very light, over 80 m2 big and
17 m high, around which the other rooms are placed.
The space is closed by a dome where multiple orifices
produce an interesting play of light. Various functional
elements are also remarkable, such as the chimneys on
the roof, the careful working of the materials, the
doors of the entryway with their wrought iron, with
the owner’s initials at the top.
Gaudí
had the help of many collaborators, such as the architects
Francesc Berenguer and Camil Oliveras, the locksmith
Joan Oñós, the iron workers Salvador Gabarró
and the Badia Workshop, the carpenters Eudald Puntí
and Francesc Vidal, the ceramicists of the factory Hijo
de Jaime Pujol y Bausis, as well as the painters Alexandre
de Riquer and Aleix Clapés. Gaudí also
designed furniture, lights, and stained-glass windows,
which he had made from the best materials, from delicate
marbles to the highest quality of woods, ceramics, and
multicolored glass. With them, he created spaces that
evoked the Gothic and Islamic styles of art according
to his own personal interpretation, at the same time
that he was using the parabolic arc, a geometric shape
that he would use constantly in all of his later work.
When,
in 1910, Eusebi Güell left the building and moved
to Güell Park to live, the building was occupied
by his daughter Mercè, who in 1945 sold it to
the Diputació de Barcelona, which for many years
housed there the Museum of Scenic Art. Restored between
1983 and 1997, it is currently open for visits from
the public.
Cultural Item of National Interest since 1969. Cultural
Item of the World Heritage for UNESCO since 1984.
|
