Inma Pascual & Lluís Bosch
Institute of Urban Landscape and Quality of Life
Barcelona City Council
6-8 Av. Drassanes, planta 21
08001 Barcelona
phone +34 932 562 509
mail ipascual@bcn.cat and lboschp@bcn.cat
The originality of Catalan Art Nouveau, known as Modernisme, is the result of an apparent contradiction between tradition and modernity. It represented the recovery and re-examination of Catalonia’s own history and traditions by a society that also wanted to be cosmopolitan and modern. During the decade of the 1880s, architects and designers revived the past with styles which were simultaneously medieval, archaic and cosmopolitan.
After 1895, this Catalan movement connected well with the new modern styles that were being developed in Europe. For the first years there was preference for the abstract sinuous forms of the French and Belgian Art Nouveau. This was later on succeeded by an attachment to the more sober Germanic Jugendstil and Secessionstil forms. The neutral standing of Spain during the First World War and a certain economic well-being derived from this, allowed Modernisme to continue right on to the 1920s, which is another of the peculiarities if this Catalan movement compared to its European counterparts. Modernisme spread across the territories of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia, appearing as the definitive style of the bourgeoisie in the new industrial cities and in the provincial capitals. Houses, summer villas and public buildings as well as factories, industrial complexes and agricultural co-operatives became identified with abstract Modernisme forms.
The development of the Eixample district in Barcelona allowed the city to grow beyond its 18t century walls, thus extending the urban limits. Economic prosperity and the modification of the municipal by-laws in 1891 encouraged investment in construction, changes in urban typologies and new decorative licenses. Three great names in architectural Modernisme left some of their best works: Antoni Gaudi with his abstract conception of architecture, Josep Puig i Cadafalch with a more historical perception and Lluis Domenech i Montaner who surrounded himself with a whole band of artisans and industrialists. But there were many other architects including Enric Sagnier, Josep Domenech i Estapà, as well as merchants and industrialists such as the Count of Güell and the Marquis of Comillas dynasties who were enthralled by Modernisme and acted as important sponsors of these architects.
Réseau Art Nouveau Network,
Bruxelles Urbanisme et Patrimoine
Mont des Arts 10-13, 1000 Bruxelles.
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