Architecture

Would you like to feel as you are walking through an English garden, leafy and seemingly uncontrolled? This is the feeling that you’ll get from Parc Nou in Olot, which opened its doors in 1943, when the stately home became a municipal park. Among other things, you can visit a small natural forest of pendunculate oak trees that has been listed as a monumental grove and which has trees of more than 150 years old and 25 metres in height.

Within Parc Nou, there are now twenty plant species. This great diversity and the need to preserve the pedunculate oak grove led to the creation of the Botanical Garden of Natural Vegetation from Olot in 1986. This allows the complexity of the life of rain forest to be viewed. In May 2005, the garden of medicinal plants from La Garrotxa opened to the public.

Also within the park there is the Torre Castanys, also known as Casa Sureda, a modernista building that houses the La Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park information centre and the Museu dels Volcans (Volcano Museum). The latter explains, through models and interactive technology, the seismic and volcanic phenomena which are so important for the region and an earthquake simulator unique in Catalonia.

Strategically located at the top of the mountain of Montjuïc, the castle, which bears the same name, is an imposing defensive construction that follows the model of star-shaped fortifications. Its current appearance is due to the reformations carried out on the old installations by the military engineer, Juan Martín Cermeño, during the 18th century.

But, beyond its architecture, Montjuic Castle has been the scene of numerous bloody episodes and acts of repression throughout its 400 year history. Currently, the site is the property of the city and has become a symbol of Barcelona.

The origins of the castle date back to 1640, during the Catalan Revolt (the Guerra dels Segadors), when a small fort was built around an ancient watchtower. This was the beginning of the militarisation of the mountain, something which marked its history until the middle of the 20th century.

This small initial fortification was completely renovated and modernised by Juan Martín Cermeño. After the war of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), ownership of the castle passed to the monarchy and a permanent garrison was established. Along with the Citadel, Montjuïc became the guardian of the city of Barcelona.

The renovation led to the demolition of the original fort and the construction of new buildings on an irregular trapezoidal plan adapted to the topography of the mountain, with four bastions at the ends and a covered perimeter path. Cermeño completed the "modernisation" of the facilities with the provision of toilets and water tanks and ordered the construction of the moat.

Throughout the 19th century, the castle once again had a military importance in the repression of insurrectionist movements in the city. Up to 3 times (1842-1843 and 1856) Barcelona was bombarded from the fortress, which was also used to imprison unionists, anarchists and revolutionaries, as well as during the Setmana Tràgica (Tragic Week) of 1909. With the Spanish Civil War the Republican government used the area for similar purposes. Later, the castle instead became a War Memorial to the victors, a military prison and the scene of councils of war (its most political significance was as the site of execution of the president, Lluís Companys).

It became a military museum in 1963. Finally, the Castle passed to municipal ownership in 2007, definitively closing the doors of the museum and taking back the space for the city.

The natural annex of La Rambla, the Plaça Reial is one of the most emblematic squares in Barcelona. Built in the mid-19th century in order to spruce up the Gothic quarter, this is a clear, clean and open space constructed amid the high density of buildings in the old town of the city.

Francesc Daniel Molina led the architectural design project, inspired by the French neo-classical squares of the 17th century. The construction began in 1848 in a space formerly occupied by a Capuchin convent. The square is surrounded by a complex of identical buildings that are raised on semi-circular arches: above the arches, two main floors are framed by a giant order of Corinthian pilasters; the 4th and top floors are recessed, forming an attic floor, and are crowned by a cornice with balustrades.

The portals and façades are decorated with Hellenic terracotta, busts of navigators, coats of arms supported by Indian children and busts of explorers of the Americas, following the neoclassical style in an age in which Spain had already lost all its continental colonies. Behind the arches are shops, situated in a space that is protected thanks to the porches with Catalan vaults.

The centre of the square is dominated by the fountain of the Three Graces, a cast iron ensemble manufactured in the workshops of Durenne in Paris, surrounded by two street lamps with 6 arms, an early work of Antoni Gaudí. In the centre of the square and dotted about irregularly, there are the emblematic palm trees of different heights. And it is these that give the Plaça Reial its characteristic appearance.

Designed originally for the bourgeoisie of the time, the Plaça Reial has been, throughout its history, one of the epicentres of the Bohemian lowlife of Barcelona.

At Plaça Gran in Granollers, on a stone platform, fifteen columns rise up, covered by a four-sided roof with the edges covered with green glazed tiles. This Porxada or Portico, the most emblematic monument of Granollers, was built between 1586 and 1587 as a corn exchange. Today it has become the nerve centre of the city.

The initial project has been attributed to the master builder, Bartomeu Brufalt, and cost 520 Barcelonan pounds, according to the contract with the university of Granollers. Initially it was used during the agricultural market to protect the wheat that was sold here. In 1872, it was enclosed with grilles and stalls were built inside. It served its function as a general market until 1938, when a bombardment by the Francoist air force left the Porxada in ruins. After the war, in 1939, it was rebuilt without grilles or the stalls, leaving the columns open as they would have been when it was designed.

On the south-western corner of the Porxada, opposite the Granollers Town Hall, we find the Pedra de l’Encant (Stone of the Auction), a block of red sandstone which was undoubtedly used for conducting public sales (encants or auctions) of agriculture products and livestock. Legend says that this stone was carried to the Porxada by a flood and that there will be another flood that will carry it away.

In Catalonia, the Gothic lasted longer than in other neighbouring regions. Therefore, examples of Renaissance architecture are rather scarce. One of the first buildings in this style, preserved in Catalonia, is the Town Hall of Arnes (Terra Alta). The proof is on the frieze of the six main windows where you can read, going consecutively one to the other, an inscription with the construction date of "1584" and the name of Joan Vilabona of Queretes.

The building, entirely free-standing, has an entrance portico. The first floor is surrounded by six windows with lintels and engaged, ionic half-columns, probably the place where the Renaissance influence can best be seen. Finally, completing the complex is the second floor with an arcaded gallery, now blocked in. Despite its austerity, some details are particularly notable such as the gargoyles or the coat of arms on a keystone of the central door.

The inside had been modified, but now nothing remains of the original sixteenth century interior. This was lost in 1835 during the Carlist Wars, when the building was set on fire.

In 1927, the exiled Tsarist Colonel, Nicolai Woevodsky and his wife Dorothy Webster, an English Aristocrat fond of decorating, were looking for a Mediterranean paradise in which to settle down. Close to Calella de Palafrugell, on a cliff above Cap Roig, they built a castle which would connect them to this spot for the rest of their lives (they even asked to be buried there). The building was surrounded by an idyllic botanical garden, considered one of the most important in the Mediterranean.

Nicolai himself designed the mansion in the neo-medieval style (imitating the Monastery of Poblet), construction of which began in 1931 and was completed in 1975. It was popularly known as "Cal Rus" (the Russian House) after the origins of its owner. However, the couple always lived at the property which gives access to the botanical gardens. This is the main legacy of Dorothy Webster. She and a team of gardeners from the region took charge of preparing the seven hectares of land in order to plant various species. In 1935 there were more than 500 species of Mediterranean, tropical and subtropical flora.

When the couple died, the estate passed to the Fundació Caixa Girona and then to the "la Caixa" Foundation, which turned the land into a sculpture park for contemporary artists with works by Jorge Oteiza, Jaume Plensa and Xavier Corberó. Every summer the gardens are home to a prestigious concert series: the Cap Roig Festival.

Josep Puig i Cadafalch was a multi-faceted architect, art historian, politician and archaeologist. His career influenced the cultural and political history of Catalonia during the final years of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries, a period that encompassed both Modernisme and Noucentisme.

He was born in Mataró in 1867. After studying architecture and the exact sciences he worked as a municipal architect in Mataró and went on to design a large number of architectural works throughout Catalonia, especially in Barcelona and the Maresme coastal district, of which Mataró is the capital. Notable works in Barcelona include the Casa Martí–Els Quatre Gats–Casa Amatller, Casa Macaya, Casa Trinxet–now demolished–, the former Casarramona textile factory, now the premises of CaixaForum–, the ionic columns with capitals at the foot of Montjuïc, which evoke the four bars of the senyera, the flag of Catalonia, and the Casa de les Punxes, his most well-known work. He also designed the Casa Coll i Regàs in Mataró–it was his summer residence–and the Cros dels Garí country house in Argentona. He also built the famous Codorniu cellars in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia.

As well as architecture Puig i Cadafalch also specialised in the study of European and Catalan Romanesque art, a subject on which he published many books and lectured at schools and universities throughout Europe and North America. Amongst the most important of these publications are L’arquitectura romànica a Catalunya, La geografia i els orígens del primer art romànic and L’escultura romànica a Catalunya. He promoted and directed the excavations at Empúries (1908 - 1923). In 1907 he founded the Institut d’Estudis Catalans, which he later presided. During the Franco dictatorship he clandestinely encouraged the recovery of this institution.

Puig i Cadafalch was also an outstanding pro-Catalan politician. He was aligned with the conservative Lliga Regionalista and it was in this capacity that he held various positions of government responsibility. He was elected to Barcelona City Council (1901-1905), member of the Spanish Cortes (1907-1909), provincial member for Barcelona and president of the Mancomunitat de Catalunya, or Commonwealth of Catalonia, from the death Enric Prat de la Riba until the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1917-1923), whereupon he gave up his governmental responsibilities and his political career was sidelined. In 1936, with the revolutionary events at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, he was forced into exile in France and, upon his return in 1942, was prohibited from practicing as an architect again by the Franco regime. He continued his research into Romanesque art and promoted pro-Catalan, and often almost clandestine, literary and cultural events until his death in 1956.

Designed by the artist and engineer Miquel Utrillo between 1910 and 1918, the Maricel Palace became, from its very opening, a classic of the Noucentista style. Currently, the complex maintains its great artistic and architectural value intact and has become one of the most emblematic buildings in Sitges.

This monumental complex, inspired by the beauty of the ancient and modern folk art, was commissioned by the American magnate, collector and philanthropist Charles Deering (1852-1927), who wanted a residential building in which to house his magnificent collection of Hispanic art. With the reform of the old Hospital de Sant Joan and the subsequent annexation of several fishermen's houses on Carrer Fonollar, Utrillo built an exceptional ensemble which received the praise of artists and intellectuals of the time. For Joaquim Folch i Torres, the Maricel Palace was "the fruit of the culmination of modern Catalan civilisation".

With austere lines and respecting the characteristic white colour of the area, the exterior of the Palace has several terraces decorated with local ceramics and projecting above is the tower of Sant Miquel. It is crowned by a series of battlements and the façade has a Gothic sculpture of the Saint which came from the bridge in Balaguer. Throughout the building there is the characteristic emblem of the sun in red rising over the blue of the sea, the symbol of the palace designed by Utrillo himself.

Inside, the Palace is arranged around the Gold Room, the Blue Room, the Chapel Room, the Ship’s Room and the cloister – which offers a wonderful panoramic view of the Mediterranean. Of the decoration, notable items include the sculptural elements by Pere Jou and the murals in the entrance hall by Josep M. Sert, inspired by the Great War. The complex is completed with various artistic elements that combine aesthetics and functionality, the work of numerous local artisans.

Disagreements between Deering and Utrillo meant the end of the initial Maricel Palace project. However, with the recent restoration of the architectural and conceptual whole and the reorganisation of the museum collection by the Maricel Museum, this extraordinary complex has had its vocation restored as a place dedicated to the arts, heritage and culture.

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.