Born again: Gaudí’s meticulously restored Casa Vicens reopens in Barcelona

Daw Office and Martiñez Lapeña Torres Arquitectes will reopen to the public
Casa Vicens, the first major project by Catalonian modernist Antonio Gaudí has been restored by architecture practices Daw Office and Martiñez Lapeña Torres Arquitectes will reopen to the public.
(Image credit: Pol Viladoms)

On a quiet street in Barcelona’s Gràcia district, Casa Vicens has long been an off-radar landmark. The first major project by Catalonian modernist Antonio Gaudí, it attracts curious looks from the sidewalk, with passersby peering though the forged iron gates at a façade of rich red brick and fanciful tile work. This is set to change, as after three years of meticulous restoration by Barcelona based architecture practices Daw Office and Martiñez Lapeña Torres Arquitectes, Casa Vicens will open to the public.

The project has been financed by the Andorra-based MoraBanc. Although the promoters found the UNESCO-classified building in relatively good condition (it was a private residence up until purchase in 2014) the biggest challenge was converting the home into a ‘house-museum’. This has been cleverly attended to by adding a sculptural white staircase through the home’s vertical axis and converting the basement and attic into exhibition spaces and a library-shop.

Casa Vicens was commissioned in 1877 as a summer home for a rich financier. Although now surrounded by residential apartment blocks of a much later period, it once stood on a verdant estate. As is evident in the corbels and pinnacle-shaped windows, Gaudí was heavily influenced by Arabic architecture for the project, but he used colour and decoration as a starting point – as opposed to the sinuous, organic forms that he experimented with in his later projects.

Bringing nature to the interior was his overall objective. The decorative detail in the home’s original living areas (a copycat extension was added in 1925) is dazzling. Olive branches, marigolds and daisies cover wall friezes and ceilings, now resplendent in their original polychromatic hues; while wall murals depicting bucolic fin de siècle scenes have been restored and the famous smoking room cleaned of 130 years of nicotine stains to reveal the depth of its lapis lazuli Mudejar vaulting – crafted, like many of the decorative elements, in papier-mâché.

‘We had to remain entirely flexible throughout the process as each intervention required a different solution,’ says David Garcia, head architect at Daw Office. ‘Our aim was to return the home to its original state 100 per cent. We avoided interpretation at all costs.’

Casa Vicens reopens in Barcelona

Three years of meticulous restoration have been led by Barcelona based architecture practices Daw Office and Martiñez Lapeña Torres Arquitectes

(Image credit: Pol Viladoms)

Bucolic wall of Casa Vicens.

Bucolic wall murals depict fin de siècle scenes

(Image credit: Pol Viladoms)

Cover wall friezes and ceilings.

Olive branches, marigolds and daisies cover wall friezes and ceilings, now resplendent in their original polychromatic hues

(Image credit: Pol Viladoms)

Coloured roof of Casa Vicens.

The bright terracotta coloured roof of Casa Vicens

(Image credit: Pol Viladoms)

Exterior of Casa Vicens

The exterior of Casa Vicens

(Image credit: Pol Viladoms)

Decorative rooms and the contemporary staircase

Interior view of the decorative rooms and the contemporary staircase

(Image credit: Pol Viladoms)

Decorative elements in papier maché.

Decorative elements in papier maché, such as the ceiling vaulting, have been carefully restored

(Image credit: Pol Viladoms)

Contemporary stairway opens up accessbility to visitors.

A new contemporary stairway opens up accessbility to visitors through the house

(Image credit: Pol Viladoms)

Exhibition space and shop designed for visitors

A new exhibition space and shop has been designed for visitors

(Image credit: Pol Viladoms)

original plans of the house design

The exhibition space reveals the history and original plans of the house design

(Image credit: Pol Viladoms)

INFORMATION

Casa Vicens reopens 16 November. For more information, visit the website

ADDRESS

Casa Vicens
Carrer de les Carolines
18-24 08012
Barcelona
Spain

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