Casa Vicens will be the star of a new "Petita Història" [Little History] by Pilarín Bayés

8 / 04 / 2025

History

Architecture

Gràcia

The book, the result of an agreement between Casa Vicens and the Mediterrània publishing house, will be available at the beginning of this summer

Last week, the famous Catalan illustrator Pilarín Bayés (Vic, 1941) visited the first house designed by Antoni Gaudí, although it was not the first time she had been there. During the nineteen-sixties, Bayés used to go to the house on Carolines street to deliver her drawings to the Cavall Fort magazine, at that time based in Casa Vicens.

This time she went to Casa Vicens to enjoy a guided tour offered by the director of the house-museum, Emili Masferrer. The visit heralds the starting point of a collaboration agreement between Casa Vicens and the Mediterrània publishing house to bring out the “Petita història de Casa Vicens” [Little Story of Casa Vicens] in the “Petites Històries” [Little Stories] Collection. This series of children's books has been translated into several languages, has reached millions of readers and has consolidated itself as one of the most extensive collections of children's literature in Catalonia.

On the subject of her visit, Pilarín Bayés underlined "Gaudí's great genius in designing this house". She singled out the fountain in the porch - located on the main floor - where Gaudí created a rainbow effect caused by the light passing through the water that falls through its metal structure.

She was also greatly taken with the carnation motif featured on all the tiles of the outside of Casa Vicens, as well as the house’s rich colours, and was surprised to learn that it was a summer residence.

In the course of her visit, Pilarín Bayés took great interest in small details, ranging from the sgraffito in the porch - referring to the sunlight -, and the materials used: iron, sgraffito, papier-mâché, etc. She was also greatly struck by the presence of nature that pervaded the house - on the walls and ceilings alike -, not to mention the eastern nuances featured in many of the rooms of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Bayés also highlighted Gaudí’s capacity to merge different styles without actually ever having travelled, availing himself of what he had learnt at the School of Architecture and the books he had read in the university library. One example of this is the smoking room, reminiscent of the Alhambra in Granada, which also delighted her.

Pilarín Bayés, an illustrator and drawer who has received numerous awards and accolades and has illustrated more than 1,000 books, will be spending the next few months explaining the Casa Vicens through her drawings in a new "Little Story". The book is scheduled to be published and to be on sale by the beginning of this summer.

Video of the visit