Description of the attraction
Casa Calve is a house designed by Antoni Gaudí for a textile industrialist, which was intended both for living and for doing business in part of the premises. The construction of the Calvet house was carried out from 1998 to 1900.
The Calvet House is a reflection of two architectural styles of that time - Baroque and Art Nouveau. The facade of the building is tightly sandwiched between two adjacent facades of houses and at first glance looks quite ordinary. But even on closer examination, the original architecture characteristic of the author emerges. Elements of the facade, seemingly chaotically located at first glance, actually have a special meaning and are thought out by the author to the smallest detail. So, on the first floor of the building, the architect designed arches, between which there are pilasters, in their original form, resembling textile bobbins. Above the entrance to the house, there is a second floor bay window, supported by an exquisite sculptural bracket, the main detail of which is depicted as a slender cypress tree, symbolizing hospitality in Catalonia. Also, the mezzanine of the building is decorated with a sculptural image of the letter "C" - the first letter of the surname of the owner of the house, as well as images of the coat of arms of Catalonia, an olive branch, a cornucopia and a relief mushroom symbolizing the owner's passion for botany. In general, the facade of the house is symmetrical about its main vertical axis, the bay windows of the building are harmoniously combined with graceful balconies, creating a sense of the integrity of the entire architectural composition. The light textured stone from which the facade is made, as well as elongated window and door openings and graceful forged lattices of balconies and bay windows create an impression of openness and elegance of the entire building.
Remarkable is the fact that in 1900 Casa Calve received the Barcelona Municipality Award for the best building of the year.
