Casa Sayrach, 1918, by architect Manuel Sayrach i Carreras
The thirty-five years that changed the face of Barcelona
E
very time I visit Barcelona, Spain, I am amazed anew by these houses, with their designs inspired by nature and their façades adorned with organic motifs. These houses were all built within a short, quite specific, window of time: between 1885 and 1920. Driven by a desire to create a style of art reflecting Catalan traditions, architects, sculptors, painters, poets and writers all sought and discovered new forms of expression. This movement, known as “Modernisme“, blossomed in Catalonia with the same vigour as the other European “fin du siècle“ art movements, such as Art Nouveau in France, Secession in Austria, Jugendstil in Germany or the Modern Style in Britain.
Features of “modernista“ architecture include the use of historical elements, the predominance of curved motifs, a lavishly decorative aspect, with a focus on organic and floral themes, a penchant for asymmetry and aesthetic refinement. Catalan “modernisme“ is best embodied in the works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner. Several of their creations are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites, such as the Palau de la Música, the Sagrada Familia and Park Güell. Antoni Gaudí introduced new techniques in working with his materials, such as “trencadís” (meaning “broken” in the Catalan language), a kind of mosaic created from broken tile shards.