Els Pavellons de la Finca Güell

The Güell Estate had several entrance gates, one for each cardinal direction. Gaudí worked in particular on the access of the northern area where the road leading to the city was located. This was the main entrance through which guests arrived, and it was very close to the manor house that had been reformed and enlarged over the years, becoming in effect a small palace. The artist also did some minor ornamentation works on its exterior.

The most notable and striking element here is the spectacular wrought iron grille of the carriage entrance in the shape of a dragon with glass eyes. This figure represents Ladon, the guardian dragon of the Garden of the Hesperides, which was overcome by Hercules, as told by Jacint Verdaguer in an episode of his poem L’Atlàntida. The shape of the dragon corresponds to the positions of the stars in the constellation Serpens, into which Ladon was transformed as punishment for having stolen some oranges. Just above the dragon there is an orange tree made of antimony, also in allusion to the Hesperides. 

The other three gates of the estate lost their utility with the construction of Avinguda Diagonal. One stands outside the cemetery of Les Corts, although its iron grille was moved to the Gaudí House-Museum in Park Güell. The second one was rebuilt in 1957 next to the Faculty of Pharmacy, and the third one was restored in 1982 and installed close to the Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera, on the Pedralbes campus. 

After Eusebi Güell’s death, his heirs assigned part of the estate located above the new Avinguda Diagonal to the State so that it could be used as a royal residence. The mansion was completely reformed and the architect Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí designed and supervised the building of some magnificent gardens which are now public and in which one may still find samples of minor works by Gaudí. In 1958 a large part of the land close to the Royal Palace was purchased in order to build the new University Campus.

Once in the possession of the University of Barcelona, the pavilions were re-adapted and in 1969 they were listed as a National Historic and Artistic Monument. While one of them was conditioned as accommodation for university staff, the horse stables were used from 1977 as the headquarters of the Gaudí Chair, in accordance with an oral assignment made by the rector to Dr Joan Bassegoda, professor of the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB) of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC).

Under an agreement signed between the University of Barcelona (UB) and Barcelona City Council, the university has assigned the use of the pavilions of the Güell Estate to the Municipal Institute for the Urban Landscape (IMPUiQV) for ten years (2015-2024). During this period, IMPUiQV will carry out a master plan for the comprehensive restoration of Gaudí’s work, as well as the replacement of the opaque walls of the complex with transparent fences and the regeneration of the garden. To the extent that the performance of this plan so allows, the complex is open for heritage visits, and cultural and educational activities are held here.