A week with Gaudí

Antoni Gaudí is the author of multi-faceted works which, in addition to the renowned buildings visited by millions, include furniture, objects and structures which, more than one hundred years later, are attracting interest. This last week saw four of his works, related with four of his main buildings, appearing as protagonists: from the transfer of the exceptional entrance hall from Casa Milà to the MNAC, to the presentation of a full-scale copy of a waterfall from Casa Vicens, and the possibility of buying a numbered copy of the coat hanger from Casa Calvet, or of experiencing first-hand, the restoration works in Casa Batlló.

Friday. The entrance hall from la Pedrera.



The fine apartment in Casa Milà was a paradise of modernism, but the 1,323 square metres that Gaudí built and decorated for one of his patrons, Pere Milà, came to nothing when he passed away and his wife Roser Seguimon got rid of the furniture and flattened the curved shapes that decorated the ceilings (apart from in the service area). However, the furniture from the entrance hall which lined the walls with several built-in cupboards and a couple of benches were saved. Seven of these pieces have been placed in the MNAC by the Sagrada Familia, where they will be exhibited after restoration.
There is scarce information available about them. The Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation explains that when Seguimon died, the estate agent Provenza rented the apartment to the insurance company Northern in 1964. In 1966 the company carried out works to set up there. At that time the furniture was given to Amics de Gaudí, presided over by Joan Bassegoda i Nonell, one of the greatest experts on the architect. They were exhibited in Casa Gaudí in Park Guëll, where, as Lluís Gueilburt, specialist in Gaudí furniture, remembers, “the benches had to be screwed closed to prevent tourists from throwing empty bottles in”.




Monday. The coat hanger from Casa Calvet.

Gaudí was an absolute creator. A Renaissance man and a handyman. He built houses and all their elements, taking care of the smallest details, including door and window knobs and coat hangers, such as that which he made (it is believed) for the office of the owner of Casa Calvet, one of his first works, awarded as the best house built in Barcelona in 1900. Measuring 23 centimetres and weighing a little more than a kilo, the piece, formed of three elements in oak and an iron strip uniting them, is original no matter what way it is looked at. This mini work of art, preserved in the Gaudí Chair (the Modernism Museum has preserved a further two identical ones since 2011) can be purchased for 1,028.50 Euros since BD Barcelona is selling an unlimited but numbered set of identical replicas. “It is a small, but intense work”, explains Juanjo Lahuerta, director of the chair certifying the copies.



Tuesday. Restoration of Casa Batlló.

Casa Batlló (1906) receives more than one million visitors per year. For this reason, its management decided to keep it open during the restoration works taking place on the main floor, where the trencadís stucco on the walls is being restored, some with gold leaf joints, despite the inconvenience caused by the continuous stream of wandering visitors. The visit, carried out by Cases Singulars, includes going up onto the scaffolding, at a height of 30 metres, and standing face to face with the dragon (or fish?) that crowns the flat roof. Here there is meticulous conservation work being carried out on the tiles of the skin (or scales?) of this sleeping beast, as well as repair works on the glaze of the enormous four-armed cross, another of the architect’s trademarks. The façade will be ready before the feast day of Saint Jordi on April 23rd. The interior works will be completed in June.


Thursday. The waterfall from Casa Vicens.

The last Gaudí work presented last week travelled to Cornellà where the Water Museum reproduced the enormous waterfall Gaudí created in 1885 for Casa Vicens, where it remained until 1945, when part of the property was demolished as a result of the increasing pressures of city planning. To create this faithful copy, 27,000 bricks were created and the same techniques as used in Gaudí’s époque were used, according to the structures professor in the ETSAB, Josep Vicenç Gómez. He managed the work for six months, “following the plans and photos of the original”, according to Daniel Giralt-Miracle, another of the main Gaudí experts in charge of the project. With this work, Gaudí broke with the mould of ornamental fountains of the time, creating a functional piece with a large parabolic arch, which served to cool the house in the scorching summer heat, a type of air conditioning at the time.

José Ángel Montañés, El País.