In the heart of Barcelona, the cosmopolitan capital of the Catalonian Community you find the most representative products got from the hand, mind and creative spirit of Antonio Gaudi. This is a famous Spanish architect better known thanks to his still in progress chef-d’oeuvre, La Basílica de La Sagrada Familia.
Casa Vicens is his first house, designed and built in the period between 1883 and 1885 by the renowned artist as a Manuel Vicens, a dealer, requested. It was the original work after Gaudi’s graduation from the Regional School of Architecture and it is located in the Gracia district, which was in that moment a village.
What is it expected to see in this recently open museum? It is nothing that it has been seen previously. Gaudi rooftop – Casa Vicens shows perfection impossible to repeat, from the uneven exterior, covered in colorful ceramic tiles, to the turrets and domes, the designer instilled features of Moorish and Oriental architecture with his elevated personal visualization of Modernism.
It is considered the place where everything was initiated; holding a lot of the seeds that successfully would blossom in his future works. On the other hand, nature was constantly his principal inspiration, mainly Mediterranean flora and fauna.
The minor yellow flowers that garnish the tiles, like the special iron palm leaves decorating the external walls, were inspired by the plant life Gaudí discovered growing on the tract of land before his activities in the house took place. “The whole thing I create,” he used to say, “is originated in the marvelous book of Mother Nature.”
How does it look inside? A natural insurrection, where vegetal, bird and seashell topics creep up the walls, crawl above the chimney corner and sink from the ceiling, transforming the indoors in part of the garden. “A house is a family’s nation” said the architect, meaning that the property should be both comfy and attractive.