April 3, 2017 TnH Global 0

Casa Vicens, Gaudí’s First House in Barcelona will be opened in October 2017

Casa Vicens, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Antonio Gaudí’s first building in the Catalonian capital will be opened to public after remaining as a private residence for more than 130 years. A complete rehabilitation and restoration project sponsored by Andorran bank MoraBanc has recovered Gaudi’s structure and transformed a residential building into a museum and cultural site.

Casa Vicens, the first house designed by Antoni Gaudí on his own, was built as a summer home between 1883 and 1885 for Manel Vicens i Montaner, a wealthy Catalonian broker. This house exhibits the architectural concept of Gaudí that is repeated in his other buildings, the materials with their own texture and color, the passionate colors and fauna.

The exterior of the house is an excess of brick and pottery (green and white tiles) because the owner had a quarry that produced these materials and imposed Gaudí to use them in its construction. The building is an evocation of Mudejar architectural style as well as the forms which are Indian and Japanese in inspiration. This orientalised exoticism was greeted with enthusiasm by the elite classes at the time in Barcelona. Inside is where you really appreciate Gaudí’s style.

This one, located at the Gracia neighbourghood, completes the list of his eight buildings in Barcelona that UNESCO has declared to be of cultural interest along with Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló, La Pedrera, Park Güell, Palau Güell, Palau de la Música and Hospital Sant Pau.

During more than 130 years as a private residence the house has overcome different restructurings and reforms that are immediate reflection of transformations and changes in family life as well as urban changes in the city. The most significant one took place in 1925, when the structure of this single-family house was transformed into three independent apartments by Gaudi’s friend Joan Baptista Serra Martinez. Therefore, the current restoration aims to recover Gaudi’s original design and to adapt the structure to its new museological project.

The Andorran family bank, MoraBanc, current owner of the property has enlisted an independent cultural management team of professionals (Joan Abellà, Mercedes Mora and Marta Antuñano) who are working to offer top-quality service to future visitors. The rehabilitation and restoration project has been assigned to the architecture studios Martinez Lapeña-Torres Arquitectes S.L.P. and Daw Offive S.L.P., and the project is being executed by joint venture Calaf AMC5. The first phase got underway in April 2015, and full execution began in September 2016, and it is scheduled to finish in autumn of 2017. The main goal of the museology proposal for Casa Vicens is to recover and showcase the original house as designed by Antoni Gaudí between 1883 and 1885 while adapting the facilities to its new use as a museum and a cultural site.

First of all, the spaces designed by Serra de Martínez will be used to serve visitors and will complement the tour of the entire house. The ground floor will house the visitor welcome area, while the spaces on the first and second floors will be set up to house the permanent exhibition halls displaying information about the building, along with temporary exhibitions and activities related to the museological project.

Secondly, this 1925 enlargement allows resolving the building’s accessibility. The circulation through the building will be organized with the construction of a new staircase which restores the original one from the single-family home which disappeared with the enlargement. A lift up to the roof has also been installed to connect all the floors in the building.

Finally, the basement of both the original building and the enlargement – spaces that have been transformed over time will house the bookshop and shop. The different facilities (electricity, heating and air conditioning, data) that is required for the new facility to operate, as well as restrooms and other areas for internal use will also be located in the basement. Finally, the café will be located at the end of the garden.

This project is framed within conscious reflection on tourism policies in Barcelona. It is indeed a responsible and sustainable cultural project in constant dialogue with different public administrations. Since 2017 has been named International Year of Sustainable Tourism by the United Nations, in fact, Casa Vicens is currently working with the District of Gràcia and Department of Tourism of Barcelona Town Hall to develop a Tourist Impact Plan of Casa Vicens on its neighborhood.

Therefore, by opening to the public, Casa Vicens is contributing to disseminating the exceptional, universal value of Antoni Gaudí’s oeuvre and to developing an overall interpretation of the architect’s works as an integral part of the Works by Gaudí included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Casa Vicens thus completes the Gaudí Route that can currently be visited in Barcelona.