Modernism in Barcelona, by Sara Coro

At the end of the 19th century and as a consequence of the industrial revolution and the technological advances derived from it (electricity, rail ...), a new way of living appears across Europe. Barcelona also follows the postulates of the industrial revolution, the growth of the city, and its gaze towards a modern society.

Modernism, which wants to break with the forms of the past and create a new art, is an eclectic movement that will have an important weight in architecture. Modernist architecture was a renewal of forms inspired by nature, the use of new materials and a national feeling.

If you are ever lucky enough to visit Barcelona, I recommend the following modernist buildings to visit.

1. La Pedrera, Casa milà

 In 1905, Pere Milà and Roser Segimon married. Attracted by the fame of Passeig de Gràcia, they purchased a detached house with garden situated on a plot measuring 1,835 square metres and they commissioned the architect Antoni Gaudi (https://www.lapedrera.com/en/architect-antoni-gaudi) to build their new property. The main floor of this new building, Casa Mila, was to be their home and they would rent out the other apartments

2. Casa batlló

Originally, the building was built in 1877 by Emilio Sala Cortés (one of Gaudí’s architecture professors), when there was still no electric light in Barcelona. In 1903 it was purchased by Mr Josep Batlló y Casanovas, a textile industrialist who owned several factories in Barcelona and a prominent businessman.

3. Casa Lleó Morera

The architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner (http://www.casalleomorera.com/en/domenech-i-montaner-2/life/) was commissioned by Francesca Morera i Ortiz to work on the Lleó i Morera House in 1902. On Passeig de Gràcia, 35 (Barcelona) there was an old building, called Casa Rocamora, built in 1864 by master builder Joaquim Sitjas. Lluís Domènech i Montaner designed a complete remodel of the existing house using a variety of materials. The project lasted until 1906.

Francesca Morera i Ortiz inherited that building from her uncle, Antoni Morera i Busó, but she died before seeing the finished work. It was her son, Albert Lleó i Morera, who took charge of the house, giving it the name by which it is known today, Casa Lleó i Morera.

4. San Pau Hospital

The Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau came into being in 1401 with the merging of six hospitals in the city of Barcelona at that time. Santa Creu, the Hospital of the Holy Cross, as it was called in those days, was right in the centre of the city, in what is now the Raval district, in one of the most important examples of Catalan Civil Gothic architecture. By the late nineteenth century, due to the rapid growth of Barcelona's population and advances in medicine, the hospital became too small, and it was decided to construct a new building. Thanks to the bequest of the Catalan banker Pau Gil, the first stone of the new hospital, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, was laid on 15 January 1902, though the new facilities would not be opened until 1930.

After eighty years of healthcare activity in the Modernista complex, in 2009 the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau moved to new premises built in the north of the precinct, thus commencing a new era for the historic pavilions of Domènech i Montaner.

Modernism is an art that perfectly describes a city like Barcelona. Every street, every corner of this city gives off a bit of this art that identifies it.  That is why I encourage you to visit this beautiful city and enjoy this modernist route.

BY SARA CORO