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Home , Josep Puig i Cadafalch

ARCHITECTURE

JOSEP PUIG 1 CADAFALCH. MODERNIST ARCHITECT

HISWORK AS AN ARCHITECT, SEEN AS A CONTRIBUTION TO THE LANGUAGE OF MODERNISM,CAN BE PLACED BETWEEN THE YEARS 1895 AND 191 1. DURINGTHIS PERIOD. PUIGCONSTRUCTED THE EXAMPLES THAT CHARACTERIZE HIM AS A MODERNIST ARCHITECT. HOWEVER,HIS WORK DID NOT END HERE, BUT INCLUDED HIS PARTICIPATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS CONNECTED WITH THE 1929 EXHIBITION. ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURE

his article brings to a close the known as the "casa Martí". His second estate. This project was to be the prelude series devoted to Modernist archi- was the Casarramona factory at Nos. to the work which earned him recognition 1tecture in . Having al- 36-44 of the carrer Mexic, also in Barce- and irnrnediate acceptance among the ready discussed Antoni Gaudí i Cornet lona. During this period, Puig was re- Catalan bourgeoisie. The distribution and and Lluís Domenech i Montaner, Catalo- sponsible for the buildings that character- size of the house could have made it nia now takes a look at the life and work ize hirn as a Modernist architect, though awkward and uncomfortable, but by of Josep Puig i Cadafalch. At the same as we shall see, his work did not end here, skilfully playing with different materials time, I would remind readers of the article but included his pariicipation in the de- and textures, as well as with the colours, on Modernist architecture published in veloprnent projects connected with the the architect produced pleasant, con?- Catalonia No. 4. 1929 exhibition. fortable effects, vibrating with different Once again, we are dealing with a ver- The first project mentioned above, the tones of light. satile figure: architect, ari historian, "casa Marií", iS better known as the After this date, we have to move to Barce- archaeologist, researcher and poiitician. "Quatre Gats", since the ground floor was lona and, needless to say, to the , Of the Domenech, Gaudí, Puig trilogy, it is occupied by Pere Rorneu's cabaret of that where Puig built his most imporiant work: the last who shows the most extensive name, a meeting place for the painters the "Casa Ametller" at No. 41, Passeig de training and whose oral and written work Casas, Rusiñol and Utrillo, and central to Gracia (1898-1 900); the "Casa Ma- has reached the largest international the understanding of pictorial Modernism caya", at No. 1 14, Passeig de Sant Joan audiences. as well as the newer ideas of people like (1 901); the "Casa Quadres", at No. 373, Born in Mataró in 1867, he graduated in Picasso and Nonell, or the musicians Al- (1 904), and the Physics and Mathematics (University of beniz and Granados. It was here that Puig "Casa Terrades", also known as "Les Pun- , 1883-88), received a doc- put forward a language descended from xes" (The Spikes), at Nos. 416-420, torate from the University of Madrid neo-Gothic, though with new elernents Avinguda Diagonal (1903-1 905). The (1888-89) and qualified as an architect at that come closer to the world of orna- first two are examples of blocks of flats, the Barcelona and Madrid schools in mentation. characterized by a rational distribution 1889-91. Next in chronological order comes the of different roorns around a central, Having completed his education, his first work he carried out at be- square courtyard setting off the staircase contact with the professional world took tween 1 897 and 1 900, which consisted in leading to the first floor. The design of place in Mataró, where he occupied the knocking three village houses into one for the staircase is in keeping with its impor- post of municipal architect from 1889. his own use as holiday accomodation. tance. His work as an architect, seen as a con- Puig was enormously attracted by this The "Casa Ametller", next to Gaudí's tribution to the language of Modemism, project, and his approach to the conver- "Casa Batlló" -built later- uses stepped can be placed between the years sion of an existing structure produced gables to play down the dirnensions of the 1 895-1 91 1, the first date corresponding bold, enriching results. In 1899, and also principal facade, as happens in Flemish to the construction of the house at No. 3 in Argentona, Puig built his first large architecture. Puig at this time was playing bis of the carrer Montsió in Barcelona, house, for the Garí family, on the El Cross with the language and formal elements of ARCHITECTURE

Gothic architecture, as can be seen in the about this building is the use that Puig squares onto the original structure of the framing of the openings in the facade and makes of the industrial architectural style old city". the use of two doors to distract attention. which dominated in Catalonia from the This petfectionist approach, coupled with If we go on to look at the ornamental second half of the nineteenth century. his views in defence of the old city, fully in work, we see how the arrangement of the Using bricks as his one basic material, he keeping with , pro- openings in the facade in this house is produces a surprising range of formal vides an opportunity to mention his contri- accurately balanced. The formal work elements. The tower's fragile elegance bution to the study of Romanesque art. In of the "Casa Macaya" consists in the makes it an example that should be very 1909, 191 1 and 1918, in collaboration composition of the facade, framed on carefully preserved. with Josep Goday, Puig published the either side by large towers that separate it At this point I would like to make an im- three volumes of L'Arquitectura Romanica from the adioining buildings. portant observation. In 1927, Puig wrote, a Catalunya, with the support of the Insti- The "Casa Quadres" and the "Casa with reference to the Cerda plan and his tut dlEstudis Catalans. In 1930 he pub- , Terrades" are very different. The first has project for the plasa de Catalunya, "ln lished La geografia i els orígens del pri-S two facades: one on the Avinguda Dia- architecture, as in music or the theatre, the mer art romanic. gonal and another, much less noticeable artist is only directly and personally in- Puig i Cadafalch, as I said at the begin- one on the carrer Rosselló, a successful volved with one part of his work; ning, also took part in politics. He was design which fits in petfectly with its afterwards he has to build it, and until he's on the Barcelona City Council from surroundings. built and directed the work in al1 its details, 1902-1 905, Barcelona deputy from 1907 The "Casa Terrades" is the only example with the countless contributions of to 1910, provincial deputy from 1913 to of free-standing Modernist architecture in draughtsmen, sculptors, painters, 1 923 and President of the Mancomunitat Barcelona. The distribution in this house is bricklayers, stonemasons, blacksmiths and de Catalunya from 1 91 7 to 1923, where perfect, since the reception rooms and the carpenters, more diverse than the musi- his most important task was the continu- bedrooms are al1 at the front, while the cians of an orchestra and more varied ation and extension of much of the work service rooms look onto interior venti- than the cornplex team on and behind the started by the first president, Prat de la lation wells. A corridor links the two areas. stage, he has not completed his work." Riba. The size of this building, its situation and Later on, in response to the public outcry Following the coup by Primo de Rive- the boldness of its lines are some of the that followed the central government's ra, Puig was completely discredited many elements worth pointing out in this imposition of lldefons Cerda's de- and sacked from his post as architect example. The decoration is not remark- velopment plan (1859), he wrote, "The for the Universal Exhibition of 1929. able. plan of the city that results from so much In spite of this, he designed and built The last building we shall look at is the empty talk is the new city we live in; it fills the palaces of Alfonso XII and Victoria Casarramona factory (1 91 l), at Nos. me with indignation to see how the bung- Eugenia, and the site's overall deve- 36-44, carrer Mexic (at presenta Nation- ling Cerda dares to cut across the living lopment followed the plan drawn up al Police barracks and in a very poor state flesh of the old city, destroying interesting by the architect, who died in Barcelona of conservation). What stands out most monuments as he grafts his chessboard in 1957. •