Modernism

Bohemian Barcelona, at the turn of the 20th century, had the café Els Quatre Gats (The Four Cats) as its meeting place. Located on the ground floor of Casa Martí, a modernista building by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, from 1897, it welcomed a procession of leading intellectuals of Modernisme.

The owner of the business was Pere Romeu, who had worked as a waiter at the Le Chat Noir cabaret in Paris. He decided to open a similar business offering cheap tavern food and piano music, which was quickly adopted as a meeting place for artists. Literary evenings, puppet and shadow shows, musical evenings, poetry readings and, above all, art exhibitions were all held here. Santiago Rusiñol, Ramon Casas, Miquel Utrillo, Ricard Opisso, Antoni Gaudí, Enric Granados, Isaac Albéniz and Lluís Millet were among its regular customers. Even a young Pablo Picasso had his first exhibition here.

During the six years it was open, the place was filled with paintings and posters made by those same customers. The most emblematic was Ramon Casas y Pere Romeu en un tàndem (Ramon Casas and Pere Romeu on a Tandem), which Casas himself had painted. In 1901, it was replaced by another canvas with the same characters in a car. The two works can be seen at the MNAC (National Art Museum of Catalonia).

Nowadays, it is a bar and restaurant again, and has preserved the decoration from the era, including reproductions of the two works by Casas.

Stroll around the Artigas gardens of La Pobla de Lillet and invariably you will be reminded of Park Güell in Barcelona. This is because they are the work of the same mind: Antoni Gaudí.

In 1905, the modernista architect who, having stayed for a few days at the home of the textile industrial Joan Artigas i Alart, wanted to thank him for his hospitality by designing a naturalistic garden for an area (known as the Font de la Magnèsia) which was next to his factory, on the banks of the river Llobregat. Thus, it is as though it copied – on a small scale – the fundamentals of Park Güell, where he was working at that time. In this case, however, it is not an urban garden. Gone, therefore, are the great open spaces and colourful ceramic tile shards or trencadis. Everything is made largely with rocky stone and mortar, taking advantage of the vegetation of the area. It is as though the park had pushed its way between nature.

Along the route the visitor will find a waterfall; an artificial cave with catenary arches from where the Font de la Magnèsia gushes forth; fountains; two stone bridges; a square; and, at the highest point, the Glorieta or gazebo, which acts as a lookout point.

Gaudí's universe is present in every detail of the complex. Jardinières, handrails, benches ... Everything imitates the forms of a fanciful nature. Nor does it lack Christian references: thus there are the sculptures of the eagle, the lion and the bull, distributed around the complex, together with an angel that has now gone, which are the symbols of the four evangelists and are arranged in the shape of a cross on the plan of the garden.

While the Casa Batlló shows the excessive imagination of Gaudí and the Casa Amatller is a brilliant reinterpretation of the Gothic style by Puig i Cadafalch, the third element of Barcelona’s Mansana de la Discordia (Block of Discord), Casa Lleó i Morera, represents the elegance of details. Working on the building were the forty best craftsmen of the period, following the orders of Lluís Domènech i Montaner.

In 1902, Francesca Morera commissioned the modernist architect to remodel the property she had inherited on the Eixample. When the owner died, the work was continued by her son Albert Lleó i Morera, who gave his name to the building. In fact, allusions to the family surname are repeated in the images that decorate the building throughout.

Domènech i Montaner added a floor and a tempietto on the roof. This tower, in line with the main floor balcony, simulates a non-existent symmetry in the building. Especially notable in the richly decorated façade, are the female figures by Eusebi Arnau. The most significant example are those on the first floor balconies where there are four women who carry allegorical instruments of modernity in their hands - photography, electricity, the phonograph and telephone.
Once inside the building, both the lobby and the entrance hall of the main floor are designed to impress the visitor. In the latter, the arches and doorways have spectacular carved reliefs. One of them is the story of the lullaby, La dida de l’infant rei (the Nurse of the Infant King), a tribute to the son of the owners who died as a newborn.

Much of the work of Domènech i Montaner’s team of artisans is concentrated in the two large living rooms. Notable are the stained glass windows: eight panels of mosaic and porcelain reliefs depict rural scenes with characters from the family. The furniture and dado panels that were in these rooms are preserved in the MNAC (National Art Museum of Catalonia).

The Casa Lleó i Morera, like other bourgeois properties, was a "house for rent" (the family of the owners lived on the main floor and the remaining floors were rented out). Even so, the desire was that the same exacting building standards and aesthetic quality should be maintained over all the floors.

Catalonia, overcoming the phylloxera crisis, was seeking new ways of organising the economic and social interests in the field of agriculture. Thus, the beginning of the 20th century saw the birth of agricultural co-operativism and associationism and, alongside this, the construction of modern and functional wineries that responded to the fashionable aesthetic (the late-Modernisme and Noucentisme).

In 1919, the Sindicat de Cooperació Agrària de Gandesa (Gandesa Union of Agricultural Cooperation), commissioned the architect Cèsar Martinell, who had already designed other "wine cathedrals" such as that at Pinell de Brai, to design its cooperative winery and oil mill. Although the building incorporated all the latest techniques and the division of space usually found in the work of Martinell, this construction is one of the most original of his agricultural works.

Its principal uniqueness is in not adopting the basilical floor plan. It is formed by a main body divided into three parallel naves of different heights, and two further naves placed transversally.

Nor were wooden crossbeams chosen for the support, since this material had become expensive following the First World War. As an alternative, Martinell designed a roof using a four-pointed Catalan vault which allowed small triangular openings to be created, strongly resembling the undulating structure of the Aymerich factory in Terrassa.

On the exterior, there is no main façade, but rather each side is treated in the same way. It is presided over by two water tanks, which rise as small and stylised towers. As a decorative element, we find glazed, green tiles which contrast with the Mediterranean white of the walls.

Can you imagine being able to touch a chimney of the Pedrera, and a few steps further on, to admire the starry dome of the Palau Güell? And to be able to enter the workspace that Gaudí had in the Sagrada Familia? The Gaudí Centre in Reus is much more than a tribute from the municipality of Tarragona to one of its most illustrious and universally known sons. It is a modern and interactive museum that, since 2007, has set out to explain the life and work of the architect in an educational way.
 
The 1,200 square metres of exhibition space is divided into three levels that lays out a journey starting with who Gaudí was and the Reus of his birth, and finishing with the keys to his architectural language, passing through a space in which to discover his work along the way.
 
Technology is key to this museum project. And it is through technology that a complete sensory experience is created, using a combination of tactile models, immersive audiovisual projections and special effects such as mappings. Visitors can experience firsthand how Gaudí played with space, light, air and water in his buildings. And at the same time they can find out about the enigmas and the hidden and mysterious aspects of his architecture.
 
The Museum also exhibits a few original objects such as the only surviving handwritten notebook of Gaudí.

Nature and Modernisme. This is the pairing that defines the Colònia Güell. Standing among the pine trees is an architectural complex that still preserves the industrial essence of the late 19th and early 20th century and has a star name: Antoni Gaudí.

The colony was built in 1890 on land owned by Eusebi Güell at Santa Coloma de Cervello. The entrepreneur wanted to move the textile industries he owned at Vapor Vell Sants away from labour conflicts that were prevalent in Barcelona at that time.

The complex was structured around the factory, which was equipped with the most advanced technology of the time. As well as the homes of the workers, there were educational, cultural and religious facilities which together formed a "small town".

In addition, Eusebi Güell, a patron of Modernisme in Barcelona, made it unique by hiring some of the best architects of the time. His friend Antoni Gaudí led the project, taking charge of the mapping out the complex and of the Church, of which only the crypt was built (declared a World Heritage Site in 2005). The remainder of the buildings (the school, the cooperative, the parish house and the cultural centre, among others) were the work of Joan Rubió, Francesc Berenguer i Mestres and his son Francesc Berenguer i Bellvehí.

The complex made a display of innovations in construction at the time such as the use of 'trencadís' (mosaics of ceramic shards), iron work and brick. Special attention should be given to the facades of the teacher's house, Ca l’Espinal and Ca l’Ordal, which show that, despite being functional architecture, no detail was overlooked.

In the midst of the woods of Castellar de N’Hug (Berguedà), the industrialist Eusebi Güell built the Asland factory, the first in Spain to produce portland cement, faster and more resilient than the conglomerates that had been used until then. This is an impressive modernista, building which, in its time, was a symbol of modernity and which today continues to amaze the visitors who come there.

The factory, owned by the Companyia General d’Asfalts i Pòrtland Asland, came into operation in 1904. The building was designed by the architect Rafael Guastavino, who built it in tiers to take advantage of the power of the waterfalls of the river Llobregat.

Due to the low temperatures in the area, the construction had to protect the whole space occupied by the machinery. To do this, an innovative architectural solution was chosen: the Catalan vault, flat brick vaults that were supported on a metal structure. The vault is what gives the façade of the factory its uniqueness.

Later, Rafael Guastavino exported this traditional technique to the United States, where he patented the Guastavino system. This system of self-supporting vaults with tiles and layers of mortar made a fortune and left its mark on architectural icons such as Grand Central Station, Carnegie Hall and the American Museum of Natural history, among others.

The industrial complex of Castellar de N'Hug operated until 1975, but in 2002 it reopened, becoming the Museu del Ciment, (Cement Museum), a space that allowed the history of the construction in our country to be reviewed. The museum, consisting of an interpretation centre and an external route that takes in the ruins of the factory, is affiliated to the Museu de la Ciència i la Tècnica de Catalunya (Museum of Science and Industry of Catalonia). With the visit, the importance of the complex at a time of strong growth of the industrial society is put into context.

The MNAC (Catalan National Museum of Art) is located in the Palau Nacional de Montjuïc, built for the international exhibition of 1929. The Museum opened its doors in 1934, bringing together the medieval collection, which was gradually expanded to include works from other periods. Among the most emblematic works are the magnificent paintings from the apse in Sant Climent and Santa Maria de Taüll.

Regarding Romanesque art, other exceptional pieces include the mural paintings of Santa Maria d'Àneu and Sant Quirze de Pedret, the Batlló Majesty and the altar frontal of Avià. Notable from the Gothic period are masterpieces by painters such as Jaume Huguet, Lluís Dalmau, Bernat Martorell and Lluís Borrassà, among others.

Modern art also has a prominent place and especially since 2014 when the collection, the exhibition rooms and the museography of this period was renovated. La vicaria (The Spanish Wedding) by Marià Fortuny, is one of the star works, followed by pieces of the most representative artists of Modernisme, such as Gaudí or Casas, and those of the avant-garde, such as Picasso or Miró.

There are also great artists from the European Renaissance and Baroque such as Titian or Velazquez, for example, and the photographic exhibits complete the collection.

The Modernista Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover woollen mill is one of the finest examples of industrial Modernista architecture in Catalonia. Designed by the architect Lluís Muncunill and opened in 1908, it is currently the headquarters of the Museu Nacional de la Ciència i la Tècnica de Catalunya - MNACTEC (National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia).

With its characteristic roof of Catalan-vaulted skylights supported by cast iron pillars, and a 42-metre high chimney, the building housed the entire process for transforming wool, from fleece to woven cloth. The name by which the mill is popularly known, 'El Vapor' (steam), refers to the steam engine that was its driving force until 1914.

The museum today reflects the building's industrial past as a woollen mill. The aim of the MNACTEC is both to conserve and raise awareness about Catalonia's scientific, technical and industrial heritage, while also demonstrating the social impact it had. The permanent exhibitions encompass the textile industry, sources of energy, computing, chemistry and transport, amongst others.

The MNACTEC also oversees a Territorial System that coordinates 26 museums and other centres specialising in industrial, scientific and technological heritage. Each of them provides a unique thematic perspective that helps explain the process of industrialisation in Catalonia, as well as the technical, social and cultural repercussions it had.

Eusebi Güell, faithful defender of the works of Antoni Gaudí, commissioned the architect to design a church for the textile village that he had constructed in Santa Coloma de Cervelló, close to Barcelona.

Construction didn't begin until the end of 1908, two years after its commission. Moreover, Gaudí abandoned the project in 1914 and work was suspended indefinitely in 1916, at which point only the crypt was built.

But for Antoni Gaudí, both the project and the construction of the crypt in Colònia Güell were a testing laboratory, where he experimented with architectural solutions and new structural techniques that he later used in the Sagrada Família. He made bold attempts, using brick and stone that pushed the limits of the construction of architectural structures, such as the parabolic arches and the sloping walls and columns.