It's a small cultural earthquake in Barcelona.
This Thursday at 7.40 p.m. a new Sagrada Familia tower will be inaugurated, the first in more than forty years.
Crowned with a star of glass and steel weighing more than 5 tons, 138 meters high, it will eventually be the second tallest in Antoni Gaudi's great work.
This is certainly exciting news for lovers of art and architecture, but the already long queue in front of the modernist cathedral should grow as much.
What if we set off to discover an unknown (or, at least, less known) work of Catalan genius?
To discover
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Commissioned by a stockbroker, the Casa Vicens is the first major achievement of the architect, who in 1883 just celebrated his thirtieth birthday and has so far decorated a few churches, built lampposts, shop windows and kiosks. It is located in the Garcia district, a quiet area north of Eixample and south of Park Güell. With its Moorish and Orientalist influences, it stands out quite clearly from the later works of Gaudi. Its lines are straight, while those of Casa Batlló are curved. And yet, she already carries all her obsessions: her taste for the decorative arts, her passion for nature and her technical genius.
If almost nothing remains of the lush garden imagined when it was created by the architect, its flowers and plants become ornamentation in the ceramic tiles with floral motifs (marigolds) on the facade, the vine leaves in papier-mâché from the ceiling or on the grid of the house, inspired by palm leaves. Religion, an omnipresent theme in Gaudi, is displayed in celestial frescoes. As for his technical genius, it can be seen in particular in the ventilation and lighting of the house. So mirror the incredible wooden blinds on the balcony, as well as the wrought iron spider web, designed to let the rainbow rays pass through. And if you ever have any regrets, the Sagrada Familia is only a 30-minute walk away ...
The richly ornamented smokehouse at Casa Vicens Wikimedia Creative Commons
Casa Vicens Gaudi.
Carrer de les Carolines, 20-26 08012 Barcelona.
Phone.
: +34 932 711 064. Open daily, Monday to Friday 10 am to 3 pm.
Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
From 16 €.
Guided tour (in English), from € 18.
Free for children under twelve.
To see also ...
Casa Batlló, Pg. De Gràcia, 43, 08007 Barcelona, Spain.
Phone.
: +34 932 16 03 06.
Casa Milà, Pg. De Gràcia, 92, 08008 Barcelona, Spain.
Phone.
: +34 932 14 25 76.
Sagrada Familia, C. de Mallorca, 401, 08013 Barcelona, Spain.
Phone.
: +34 932 08 04 14.