Casa Vicens Gaudí awards its special mention to Plaça de Rovira in the Festa Major de Gràcia decorated streets competition

20 / 08 / 2026

Gràcia

The “Batiscaforoviruskas” display commemorates the 20th anniversary of Antònia Font’s album “Batiscafo Katiuscas” and celebrates 20 uninterrupted years of decorating the square

Gaudí’s first house has taken part in the Festa Major de Gràcia for nine years, reinforcing its commitment to this unique celebration and to the neighbourhood of Gràcia. Casa Vicens not only joins as a sponsor; every year, from August 15 to 21, it also offers special discounts to visit this World Heritage Site and free daily family workshops in the neighbourhood’s streets.

For the past five years, Gaudí’s first house has also presented one of the special awards in the festooned streets competition sponsored by the Fundació Festa Major de Gràcia.

On Wednesday, at the Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia, the museum’s director, Emili Masferrer, presented the Casa Vicens Gaudí Award to Plaça de Rovira i Trias, highlighting “the invitation to dive into the ocean depths aboard a single-seat bathyscaphe; the creation of a poetic plankton pierced by rays of sunlight; and the ability to give three-dimensional form to the songs of a pivotal group in the history of Catalan-language music.”

About Plaça de Rovira i Trias

Plaça de Rovira i Trias, dating from 1861, is the work of the architect of the same name, one of the city’s most popular urban planners. Born in Gràcia, Antoni Rovira i Trias was Barcelona’s municipal architect and designed, among other buildings, several of the city’s markets, including El Born, La Concepció, Sant Antoni and La Barceloneta. He was also responsible for the urban design of the Vila de Gràcia, characterised by its narrow streets and numerous small squares. The square commemorates him with a life-size bronze statue, at the foot of which stands the plan for his design for the Eixample district — the winning entry in the public competition held by the City Council in 1859, which was ultimately awarded to urban planner Ildefons Cerdà.

About “Batiscafo Katiuscas” and Antònia Font

“Batiscafo Katiuscas” is the fifth studio album by Antònia Font, a Mallorcan band that has been one of the most distinctive voices in Catalan-language music since 1997, with lyrics by composer Joan Miquel Oliver. Released in 2006, the album takes listeners on a conceptual journey to the ocean depths aboard a single-seat bathyscaphe, a poetic, surrealist universe populated by fantastical characters that won Album of the Year by popular vote at the Premis Enderrock. Two decades on, its underwater imagery and its championing of the Catalan language remain as relevant as ever, and this year they have inspired the decorations with which Plaça de Rovira i Trias has won Casa Vicens Gaudí’s special mention.