Casa Calvet was the first of three houses designed by Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona’s Eixample district. Built between 1898 and 1900 for the textile industrialist Pere Màrtir Calvet, the building housed his business, the family residence on the first floor and rental flats above.

Casa Calvet may be one of Gaudí’s more understated buildings, but it already contains many of the ideas and ornamental features that would come to define his work. It marks a transitional moment in his career, as he began to move beyond historicist influences and shape the distinctive architectural language that would bring him international recognition.

The building brings together a traditional street-facing façade and a striking rear section. The façade on Carrer de Casp, built in Montjuïc stone, reflects the refined yet restrained taste of Barcelona’s bourgeois society at the turn of the 20th century. At the back, overlooking the inner courtyard of the block, Gaudí departed from the typical Eixample galleries, replacing them with balconies echoing the main façade and inventive bay windows that offer shade while maintaining privacy.

Casa Calvet is also rich in symbolic and ornamental detail. Among its most distinctive features are the wrought-iron balconies, the entrance columns shaped like bobbins of thread in a nod to the owner’s textile business, and the main bay window, decorated with a cypress tree, an olive branch, the coat of arms of Catalonia and other motifs associated with peace, hospitality and abundance.

Inside, Gaudí paid special attention to the entrance hall, staircase and light wells, transforming everyday passageways into spaces of remarkable architectural interest. The architect also designed much of the furniture and many of the decorative elements for the Calvet family offices on the ground floor.

In 1900, Casa Calvet was awarded Barcelona City Council’s prize for the best artistic building.