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Until then, GaudĂ had only worked on smaller projects, especially urban development projects, as he was finalising his studies in architecture.
Casa Vicens is the first home designed by GaudĂ. This single-family home was designed under the precepts that he wrote in the document known as “The manor house” (1878-1883).
As a starting point to his work, GaudĂ created an innovative, original piece that stood out from what had previously been built in Catalonia. Casa Vicens is one of the first examples of the rejuvenated aesthetics and architecture that took place throughout Europe in the late 19th century.
The construction of Casa Vicens is located in the village of GrĂ cia, a town that until the 19th century was agricultural and sparsely populated. However, with the industrial revolution, steam factories started to take root which accelerated urban expansion turning GrĂ cia into a town with excellent cultural, worker and petit-bourgeoisie activity. Around 1860, the village had already established the street pattern that has lasted more or less to our days.
Gran de GrĂ cia was an extremely important street, the path that connected to the aristocratic Passeig de GrĂ cia, which in turn acted as the central axis and the main connection between Barcelona and the burgeoning town of GrĂ cia. The tramway reached the port which made it possible to bring the two towns closer together.
Finally, GrĂ cia was annexed as a new neighbourhood to the city of Barcelona in 1897.
The origin of the commission for Casa Vicens takes us back to 20 February 1883, the moment when Manel Vicens i Montaner requested permission from the Vila de GrĂ cia Town Council to build a summer home on no. 26 Carrer de Sant Gervasi street, now known as Carrer de les Carolines.
One month before Vicens had requested permission to raze the house that he had inherited from his mother, Rosa Montaner, since it was in rather poor condition. The requested was accompanied by a series of four plans (location, floor plan, elevation and section) signed by the architect Antoni GaudĂ, dated 15 January 1883, where we can see his immense creativity and design skills already on display.
In the ink drawing of the façade, we can see how Gaudà meticulously delineated the leaves of the palm tree that would be placed on the grille at the entrance. The sculptor Lorenzo Matamala was commissioned to create the piece and was cast by Joan Oñós.
In the plans submitted to the city council we can see how GaudĂ’s construction included three façades attached to a party wall with the neighbouring construction. The southwestern façade, the main one, remained open to the large garden that surrounded the house.
The orientation and the lush plant growth in the garden ensured that the summer house remained fresh and cool. The garden was also structured in two spaces: one with circular flowerbeds in front of the main façade, and another dedicated to the vegetable garden, located higher up, at the back of the plot.
A great number of people met around the Renaixença, the Centre CatalĂ , the Ateneu Barcelonès and the AssociaciĂł Catalanista d’Excursions CientĂfiques, ranging from magnates like Eusebi GĂĽell to writers, architects and artists, such as Francesc Torrescassana, Mariezcurrezna, and more, all of whom were subsequently linked to GaudĂ’s work and also to Casa Vicens.
We know very little of Manel Vicens (1836-1895). The last will and testament of Manel Vicens is the most notable document to understand him. In it, he stated that his profession was a stock and currency broker.
Mrs. Rosa Montaner y Matas indicated in her will that all her assets came from AgustĂn MarĂa BarĂł y Tastas, who named her his sole heir upon his death.
Manel Vicens passed away in 1895, leaving his wife, Dolors Giralt i GrĂfol, as his sole heir and, in the case of her death, their daughter Juana Peña Medina. Juana was originally from Alhama and was adopted by the Vicens family at the tender age of five after being orphaned by the earthquake that levelled the town in Granada on 25 December 1884.
Manel Vicens’s will also mentioned a house in the town of Alella, for which Gaudà designed two pieces of furniture that can be seen in the permanent exhibition, as well as two properties in the centre of Barcelona and some land in the area of Vallvidrera.
Four years after Manel Vicens’s death (December 1899), his widow sold the house to Antonio Jover Puig for 45,000 pesetas, as recorded in the Property Record.