Gaudí's Gràcia: Casa Vicens to the gate of Park Güell: a self-guided walk
By Alleytale
Gaudí, his assistant Berenguer and Gràcia
Francesc Berenguer i Mestres worked in Gaudí's workshop from 1887 and was his close friend. Because he never got an architect's title, the plans of much of his work were signed by someone else, and it is credited to him across Gràcia.
The stops
Gaudí's first major project was a summer house for the stockbroker Manuel Vicens, commissioned in 1878 and built between 1883 and 1885, when Gràcia was still a town of its own. The tiles in its walls show the yellow Indian carnations Gaudí found growing on the plot, and a palmetto palm there inspired the cast-iron gate of palm leaves. Some sections of that palm-leaf fence were later reused on the gate of Park Güell, where this walk ends. Today the house is a museum, opened in 2017, and the walk looks at it from the street.
Photo: Canaan — CC BY-SA 4.0 Francesc Berenguer i Mestres, Gaudí's friend and assistant, designed this building for a society in which he was vice-president at the time. He had no architect's title, so the plans carry the signature of Miquel Pascual instead. The facade is worked in exposed brick, with wrought-iron balconies, and a small theatre sits at the back.
Photo: Enfo — CC BY-SA 3.0 In 1905 Francesc Cama i Escurra asked permission to build this apartment block on Gran de Gràcia from plans by the municipal architect Miquel Pascual, though the design is attributed to Berenguer. The facade is covered in pale green mortar with a sgraffito ornament that includes the date of construction, and coloured trencadís, mosaic of broken tile, sits under the balconies. Floral stained glass closes the polygonal bays at the ends of the main-floor balcony, and inside the entrance hall has an elaborate plaster ceiling.
Photo: Amadalvarez — CC BY-SA 3.0 Gràcia's market was begun in 1888 and opened in 1893, on land that had belonged to the Menorcan landowner Marc d'Olives, whose will asked for buildings around the square. The plans were signed by the municipal architect Miquel Pascual, but Berenguer took part in the decoration and the market is believed to be his work. Its iron frame and brick walls end in two gables of stone and wrought iron, whose curling lines frame the coat of arms of Gràcia with its three lilies.
Photo: Kent Wang — CC BY 4.0 This was Gràcia's town hall, the Casa de la Vila on the Plaça de la Vila, and it is now the seat of the district. In about 1905 Berenguer, a regular collaborator of the town architect Miquel Pascual, raised the building and gave it a new facade, topped by a wrought-iron coat of arms of Gràcia, with two ornate iron lamps beside the central balcony. Inside, the grand staircase has a lamp shaped like a dragon with open wings, and the giants of Gràcia are on permanent display in the ground-floor passage.
Photo: Enfo — CC BY-SA 3.0 Gràcia had no parish of its own until 1868. The town council bought the Palau de la Virreina in 1878 and the church's first stone was laid there on 22 April, with work lasting until 1884. Berenguer built the rectory and the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, whose domes are covered in trencadís, and directed the rebuilding after the church was burned in the Tragic Week of 1909. One historian argues that the chapel should be credited to Gaudí, while the parish rector says it only reflects how close Gaudí and Berenguer were.
Photo: Kent Wang — CC BY 4.0 This is the first sanctuary in the world dedicated to Saint Joseph, built on land given to the congregation in 1895. Berenguer was its author, and his friend Miquel Pascual signed the plans because he had no architect's title. Work went on slowly until after Berenguer's death in 1914, and Òrriols ceramic with flowers still survives in places, such as the vestibule. Today it also works as a reception centre for minors at risk of exclusion, so this walk looks at it from the esplanade in front.
Photo: Enric — CC BY-SA 4.0 Eusebi Güell commissioned Gaudí to design this park, built between 1900 and 1914 and opened to the public in 1926. Two whimsical gatehouses mark the entrance, and sections of the palm-leaf fence from Casa Vicens were reused on this gate, which ties the walk back to its first stop. The show house in the park that Gaudí bought and moved into in 1906 was designed by Berenguer. A ticket is needed for the Monumental Zone, which takes in the main terrace, the viaducts and the gate area. The official site says the rest of the park is nature and leisure areas free for all, so this walk looks in from the street.
Photo: Txllxt TxllxT — CC BY-SA 4.0
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