More than 130 years after its construction, the first building designed by the famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí from Barcelona, opens to the public for the first time.
Casa Vicens was built as a summer house between 1883 and 1888 on behalf of Manuel Vicens i Montaner, a stockbroker. Gaudí was 31 years old at the time and was starting his career. It was his first big project.
Throughout his graduating years at the Barcelona Provincial School of Architecture, Gaudí’s work portrayed a rather Victorian-esque style, similar to that of his predecessors. However, shortly after finishing school, began to develop his own style that was characterized by the neomudejar influence. Some characteristics of this style include the juxtaposition of geometric masses, the use of ceramic tiles, metal work, and abstract brick ornamentation. Casa Vicens is one of the first Art Nouveau buildings.
All these years, the house has served as a residence, having been converted into three apartments in the 1920s and then used as a single-family home for nearly a century. Later, in 2014, the house was bought by MoraBanc, a prominent private family bank in Andorra, and after two years of renovation, the 19th-century building was opened as a museum.
«The mission of Casa Vicens as a house museum is to present Gaudí’s first house showing it as an essential work to understand its unique architectural language and the development of Art Nouveau in Barcelona”, explained the executive director of the project.
